


Star Vs. The Dark Coven

by shindougal



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Action/Adventure, Demons, F/M, Romance, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teen Years, Teenage Rebellion, Witchcraft, Witches, coven - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-05-20 17:53:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6019552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shindougal/pseuds/shindougal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after season 1, everything's gone quiet. Marco just wants to settle in for a weekend with no parents, an in-control Star, and a home. Unfortunately, nothing can ever go to plan with Star Butterfly living in the house. (StarxMarco) (TomxOOC)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Higher Witches and Mirwena

**Author's Note:**

> This takes palce after Season 1, but I upped the ages to 17 because I don't want to get flagged for 14 year olds doing anything. Enjoy!

A/N: I'm in love with Star Vs. The Forces of Evil! I don't know why, but Tom is starting to be my 2nd favorite next to Marco! Anyway, the characters are now 17 because I don't want to get flagged for 14 year olds cursing and doing other things that are obviously going to happen in an 'M' rated fic. Anyways, enoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Vs. The Forces of Evil. The original story belongs to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Don't sue me! I only own my OOCs.

Chapter 1: Higher Witches and Mirwena

Marco looked up from his video postcard to hear some thumping across the hall. Sighing, he paused the video and walked across the hall. He could hear music, but also incantations. Knocking lightly, he heard nothing, and creaked open the door a bit. Peeking an eye in, he saw Star working on a new spell. The music was louder than normal, and she seemed to be in her own world. She pulled out her wand and began saying a few words, writing down in the notebook. "Star?" he asked  
Twirling around, she heard nothing. Sighing, Marco walked over to the bluetooth speaker and turned it off. Pausing, she smiled at him. "What's up?" she asked  
"Is there any reason why you're playing music this loud? I can't her my video post."  
"What? Oh...I'm so bored, so decided to make up some spells since Mom's been bugging me about it. I think I have to show it to her when I go on my bi-monthly visit to Mewni."  
"Well...can you do it a little quieter? I really want to hear this surprise my cousin has."  
"Ooh! Is it a new puppy? A car?"  
"I don't know. I can't hear it."  
"Oh. Can I see?"  
"No Star, I think my cousin may not feel comfortable tell you the secret."  
"But...your parents were so happy and open."  
"That's them. Most of my extended family isn't like that. Usually my cousin feels more comfortable tell me things before telling everybody else things. I guess it's because I'm the Safety Kid."  
"Don't you mean Safety Adult? Your parents did leave you at home for a week."  
"That doesn't mean I'm an adult. You can leave kids alone if they're over 16 in this state. Besides, I think they may trust me to keep an eye on you more than anything else."

  
Star's smile faltered a bit. Ever since Marco got kidnapped 3 years ago, it's been hard...proving that she could handle herself to her parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Diaz to a lesser extent. Agreeing to visit her mother and practicing magic with her made her bond with her mother more, but it also made her nervous. Marco put a hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "It'll be ok, just...turn down the music a bit so I can listen to my cousin's message."  
Star just nodded and her smile lit up a bit. Leaving the room, Marco hoped she wouldn't get into any trouble because she was bored.....

_**She did....** _

Marco paced back and forth in the living room. His parents were gone for the entire week, and...for once...he thought Star had a lid on not causing trouble or looking for it. Of course, Star didn't have have a full grasp of all of Earth's customs. Well, he had to hand it to her, she was staying out of trouble for the first three days. "How was I supposed to know that Earth had covens?" she asked  
"Maybe if you asked someone there? Still, covens...real covens..."  
"I didn't mean to stop anything. I'm sorry Marco. I just wanted to practice my magic in a quieter place."  
"It's...ok Star...I just...we'll figure this out."  
The sound of horses filled the living room as a dimensional portal opened, revealing a black carriage and black stallions. A knight in black armor stepped down from the driver's seat and stepped in front of the two of them. "Presenting Earth High Witch Ro-ah!"  
A high heel sneaker boot knocked him over. He groaned as he looked back at the carriage. "A thousand pardons, milady."  
"Knock it off!" said the voice, "Let's just get this over with so I can go to a normal mall! I wanna get... **Marky!** "

  
A blur of black and purple came out of the carriage and knocked over Marco. Star immediately pulled out her wand. "Narwhal Blast!"

  
The figure created a magical shield to protect herself as she jumped off of Marco. The mini-Narwhals were flopping dead at her feet. "Get away from Marco!" yelled Star

The blur was revealed to be a dark-skinned teen who owned a pair of sneaker boots, wore fishnet stockings, and a purple shirt with black elbow sleeves. Marco groaned as he sat up and looked at the teen in black. "Wha...? Star!" he yelled, "Stop! She's ok!"  
"What?"  
"She's my cousin! The one one who sends me video postcards! Stop!"  
Star stopped attacking and the knight grabbed her, with Star dropping the wand. "Let me go!" she yelled  
"Parker!" yelled the witch, "Let her go."  
"But, Mis-"  
"Just do what I say!"  
T

he knight mumbled something and dropped Star on her butt. She picked up her wand and suspiciously aimed it at the witch. "How do we know it's not an illusion casting trick?"  
"Um...if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't come down here myself." said the witch, "I would've sent all types of guards to annihilate this place. Besides, why would I attack my favorite cousin the entire world!"  
"You mean your only cousin?"  
"Yeah, on my mother's side. So, you're friends with the highly destructive Star Butterfly."  
Marco laughed nervously as he hugged his cousin. "So...this was the secret?" he asked  
"Oh yeah." she answered, "That's right, my is Rochelle, but everybody calls me Ro and you're Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni."  
"You know who I am?" asked Star

Ro began using magic to set everything right. "Yeah." she answered, "The Earth's Witch Coven knows all the off-worlders that visit Earth. Though, I knew about you before from Marco."  
As everything righted itself, the horses made a whinny and Ro magically turned them tiny so they couldn't make more of a mess. "Milady," started the knight, "you're going to sap too much magic."  
"I got this. This is baby magic, compared to what I do back at the academy. Besides, I don't think I want my aunt and uncle cleaning up horse crap. Parker, can you please whip up some cupcakes, I haven't had any desserts since I left the academy."  
The knight grumbled and made his way to the kitchen. "You don't have an accent." said Star  
"What?" asked Ro  
"Your accent. It's not like Mr. Diaz's"  
"Oh. That's because I'm related on his mother's side. But, I do speak Spanish, as well as Creole, French, and Hellish."  
"Hellish?" asked Marco  
"Witches often interact with people from the Underworld. It's a mandatory requirement at the academy. Do you have your XBOX? I wanna play Call of Duty."

After an hour of multiplayer and both magical girls yelling curse words at people online, Marco decided to stop their playing after he noticed that their combined magic was destroying things outside. Luckily, it was cars and a few lamp posts. Ro went to showing Star (in Star's room, of course) how witches transmute everyday organics into something else. The knight nervously placed an apple in the middle of Star's floor. "Please be careful Mistress." said Parker  
"I will. I'm not going to make a monster that explodes."  
"Oooh!" squealed Star, "Can you?"  
"I don't think Nervous Nick would want me to do that."  
"Who's Nervous Nick?"  
"....Marco. Nervous Nick is just an figure of speech. It's better than calling him Safety Kid."

Marco mumbled something about not being able to shake his reputation. Ro conjured up a circle around the apple and it began to transform. A long scaly, red tail formed, and the body gained limbs, a beak, and a lizard's tail. "An apple dragon?" asked Star  
"Simple magic." answered Ro, "You gotta be careful with transmutation magic."  
"Just how did you get into doing magic?" asked Marco, "I can't do magic."  
"It's a long story...I mean, it would be up there with the Harry Potter movies. But let me give you the abridged version. Dad's from New Orleans, and...about six generations back, his ancestor on his mother's side was the Voodoo Queen. As for the High Witch thing...well...I got caught in a literal freak tornado while I was alone down at the sore. This crazy bitch named Mirwena was looking for someone, but I don't think it was me. I think because the coven said that most witchlings discover their magical ability at puberty. Because I was a late bloomer, I guess that's why I was able to walk around high school without being completely awkward. Plus, because Mirwena was kicked out of the coven for being a complete pscyho. I had to join the coven because my ancestor was a former member and I inherited all of her abilities. I have to go to Ozma Academy in the Clotho Dimension though. That's why I haven't been skyping you. I get bars, but the academy demands that we're detached from technology."  
"Does Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jordan know?"  
"Hell no! You're the first person I've told! I don't even know how they're gong to take this."  
"If they're anything like Mr. and Mrs. Diaz," started Star, "they'll understand."  
"Star," started Marco, "the rest of our family isn't like my parents. Ro's parent are a bit...uh..."  
"Uptight is the word you're looking for." said Ro, "They think I'm at St. Augustine's School for Girls right now. They sent me there while they do whatever anthropology project they're doing so they don't have to worry about me getting into trouble. I don't think they've read the emails that I transferred out of there yet."  
There was an uncomfortable silence before Parker cleared his throat. Marco looked at Star, who was picking a magazine of the floor with a fearful expression on her face. "St-" started Marco  
"Mistress, we need to leave." said Parker, "You have curfew."  
"Curfew?"  
"Yeah." answered Ro, "What time is it?"  
"It's about 5:59."  
"5:59?! Shit! We gotta go now! I'll make it just below the wire!"

She began running downstairs and picked up the shrunk carriage and miniature horses, which helped themselves to the fruit on the table. She set them on the floor and used her magic to bring them back to their actual size. "Are you going to come back?" asked Marco

Ro looked at his face. When the were kids, they spent a lot of time together...before Marco's parents moved to California. She sighed, leaning against the carriage door. She couldn't resist Marco's visibly saddened face. "I'll try to make it when I can." she said, "Ozma Academy doesn't give out free time like candy."  
"Milady-"  
"I know Parker!"  
"No, there's a problem."

The three teens looked at the Knight, who was looking out the window.They pulled back the curtains to reveal demonic bats, dogs, and soldiers. There also looks like a demonic dragon. Marco gasped and shut the curtains. "Tom..." growled Star

"Her ex?" asked Ro  
"You told her about that?!" exclaimed Star  
"We're cousins. Not a big deal. Anyway, I don't think it's Tom."  
"Tom's very vindictive."  
"Yeah. I heard. But, I doubt a demon prince, one of the five demon princes, I might add, would do something this large because of rejection."  
Star looked out the window and sighed. "That's Tom." she said, "Notice the demon family crests?"  
The other two looked out as well. "This doesn't make sense." said Marco, "He can just make a portal and appear into your bedroom at any time."  
"He can come into your bedroom?" asked Ro, "I thought you were dating Marco."  
"Our relationship is complicated. Besides, we haven't heard from Tom in 3 years. Heard from Brian though...Tom's been ok. He's been getting better, but he hasn't really contacted Star. He would see her face..and hang up."  
"Still," started Ro, "according to my history classes, Demon Royal Families don't star wars on other planets without any reason. There's protocol for starting war. This is different."  
"I don't know, Tom-"  
"Rochelle Dubios!" yelled a feminine voice, "I know you're in there!"  
"Shit! Parker, call the coven! She's back on Earth!"  
"Who's back on Earth?" asked Star  
"Get ready to use light magic!"

Marco watched his cousin say something in a foreign language and a strange symbol appeared under her feet. He looked outside to see the demons starting to attack. Whatever was done to his home kept them from going over a green line. Ro let out a pained breath and fell to her knees. Both Parker and Marco were immediately at her side. "Im fine." she huffed, "Star's light magic may be able to hold her back temporarily until help arrives."  
"Who's after you?"asked Marco  
"Mirwena."

Star looked at Ro in fear. She gripped her wand looked at the door. Summoning up her courage, she ran out the home and aimed her won at a woman dressed in black with green skin. Her white hair shone brightly under her hat. She peered black eyes down at the blonde girl and smirked evilly. "Star Butterfly." she said with a British accent, "I didn't think your overprotective mother would even let you off of Mewni. Oh well, she never did learn her lesson after what happened to your Aunt Luna. I'll just have to kill you and make an example out of you like did to that demon royal family."  
"Tom?" whispered Star  
"Tom?...Tom...Oh, that little who can't aim?"  
The demons kept trying to attack the shield, and Star noticed the tiny hairline cracks. "He's back at what was his castle. Anyway, say hi to your Aunt Luna for me."

Star wasted no time, leaving the weakened shield and going straight for Mirwena. She had to defend herself from the demonic hordes. Mirwena cackled as she fired dark magic at Star, and the teen had to create a crystal shield. It cracked a bit on impact from the dark magic. "Narwhal blast!" yelled Star  
Mirwena laughed and slapped her attack away. "Still using rookie magic? This is going to be too easy."  
Star felt herself going week as her crystal shield cracked away. "Star!" yelled Marco  
He ran past the shield to attack Mirwena. She glanced at him and used her magic to grab him. The dark magic made him cry out in pain. "Marco!" cried out Star  
Before she used her magic, Ro quickly dropped her shield around the house and summoned vines to attack Mirwena. "Get away from Marco!" she yelled  
Parker fought off the demonic horde who were surrounding Star. "Milady!" he yelled, "You can't fight her!"

Star found herself quickly assisting Parker while Ro tried to restrain Mirwena. The evil witch seemed to be enjoying toying with the both of them. She pulled off the vine and chanted a spell for lightning to strike. Ro had to lose focus to create a shield for herself and Mirwena used dark magic to summon the dragon waiting. It snapped at Ro and her shield shattered. The dragon burned her with it's breath and she cried out in pain. She fell to the ground and watched Mirwena got closer. "Milady!" cried out Parker  
He ran through hordes of demons to get to Mirwena, and she smacked him with enough fore to send him flying. She grabbed Ro by the throat. Star became over-encumbered by the onslaught of demons. "Two bids with one tone." she said, slyly

Figures in white came flying down and Mirwena immediately let go of Ro. "Dammit." she growled  
Creating a portal, she snapped her fingers. "Let's go!" she yelled  
The demons began to run back into the portal and Mirwena glared up at the bright lights. "Damn coven..." she growled  
Marco saw spots as he noticed what looked like ghosts descending. He struggled to moe, but his body felt like it was on fire. The ghost came to touch him and he blacked out.


	2. High School Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fight with Mirwena, the girls begin feeling vulnerable. Tom's going to lose it soon...

Chapter 2: High School Sucks

Marco's eyes fluttered open and he groaned. His body was still in pain, and the bright colors in the room made him squint his eyes in pain. Looking at the room, it looked like a room of victorian design, with a colorful desk lamp...which he oddly remembered being called a Tiffany lamp. He really needed to stop hanging around is grandmother so much. Moving his body, he felt like his body was going to creak like an old person. Looking up at the canopy of the bed, his eyes widened, everything was coming back to him. "S-star!" he cried out, "Star!"  
The door swung open and a bandaged, panicked Star looked at him worriedly. "What?" she asked, "What is it?"  
"Where are we?" he asked, "What is this place?"  
Star sighed and closed the door. "We're in Salem, the pocket dimension inside of Earth...not the city. We were brought here after Mirwena disappeared. We were so injured that they picked us up."  
"My parents! Are they-"  
"I don't think they called your parents because you're related to Ro, but they called mine."  
Star sighed and walked over to the old rolling chair and sat in it. She pulled her wand and looked at the crack in the gem. "Star?" asked Marco  
"Mirwena's so powerful. She cracked the gem...I can't use any magic right now."  
Marco got up form the bed, slowly, and hugged Star. "We'll figure this out." he said, "You can fix it, right?"  
"I...I think so. Mom will help me figure it out."  
Marco pulled back and looked at her fearfully. "You're parents are here?" he asked  
"Dad's away. Mom's coming. I think Mom already knows about us."  
"S-she does?"  
"Trust me when I say that she's not the one to worry about. I don't think Mom's going to talk about our relationship because of Mirwena."  
"What's so bad about her...well...besides the obvious."  
Star's hearts diminished a bit. She twitched her foot a bit before looking at her. "Mom's scared of her. I don't know much about Mirwena, but, she did kill Aunt Luna. She said it was one of the Royal Family's darkest days in history. She won't talk much about her since she died before I was born."  
"I think that your Mom has a right to be scared. Did you see what she did? And the whole talk about controlling one of the five Royal Demon Families? Wait...Ro...where's Ro?"  
"She went to deal with the Coven. She told me to wait here with you because things were going to get messy."  
"Messy how?"  
"Ro said it had something to do with politics. Now that Mirwena's working with Tom's family-"  
"I don't think she's working for Tom's family."  
"How do you know?"  
"When I was in that...thing she used. I saw the army. They looked hypnotized. Like, they were controlled by strings."

Tom screwed his hands shut as feminine hands stroked his chest. He hated this feeling. Being locked away for six months, it was enough to make anyone go insane. Yet, he kept saying chants in his head, and Brian was there to feed him. In retrospect, everything truly happened in a blur. His mother had went missing for two days, but was found by a witch named Mirwena, who only wanted sanctuary in her exile. His father was happy to have a dark witch serving the royal family, but Tom felt off around her. She quickly worked, stopping the goblin rebellion, putting his father's mind at ease. She then focused on helping his mother find a suitable wife for him. Queen Adelaide thought that Tom's 'obsession' with Star Butterfly had gone on long enough. It was time for him to find a woman better fitted to the throne, preferably someone who wasn't a being of light magic. Mirwena was instructed to use the other means of the blood moon to find her son's mate. It was late when Tom saw Mirwena fly into a fit of rage. She smashed what looked like a Blood Mirror into pieces. It was then, that he saw something, part of a face, an eye, but everything else was shattered into pieces. Tom was going to see Brian the next day when his mother stopped him. He wouldn't be going to Earth. There was no need. A mate was found, and he needed to stop distracting himself with trivial activities. His father was no help, working in his study.  
The hands reached lower and he pushed the body. Even though this looked like Star this was nothing like his Starship. She would never throw herself like that at him. There was more to her than that...and no matter how angry, how much he abused this body, it wouldn't retaliate. It showed no fear, no anger, and that's what made her plastic, no matter how flesh and blood she felt. Mirwena was a piece of work to make this body. Still, his mother enjoyed her company, which made killing her easy. He couldn't be sure, but he knew it was Mirwena. She drank her wine, and then died her sleep. King Brandon was furious, his wife ingesting holy water mixed with her wine. He raged for days, saying sabotage. But not once, did he ever suspect Mirwena. She had been gone to Earth while it happened. In passing, he could've sworn he saw her smirk at him during the funeral. Witches couldn't do any magic on demons without making deals. He was allowed to see Brian again, especially since his father was in mourning. He beefed up security, and Mirwena was assigned to getting Tom's mate ready. She also seemed to serve his father his meals in his study in night. He was demon and so was his father, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. Making a deal, Mirwena became Queen Consort in the wake of Adelaide's death. Nobody in the kingdom took that well, but Mirwena was getting stronger, and nobody could oppose her in magic.  
"Tom..." said a sing song voice  
Something snapped in him and he dove straight for the fake Star Butterfly. Clad in clothing Star would never wear, she seemed excited to have him top. He placed his sharp fingers and hands around her neck and began choking her. She gasped for air and his eyes were becoming less visible. Six months, he resisted doing anything more than oral sex, and he couldn't take much more. Her face screwed up in a smile as her face foamed form lack of oxygen. This was it. He was going to give into his demonic instincts to kill. He wanted to hear it. The delightful snap of fake Star's neck. "Tom!" yelled a voice  
Brian pulled Tom off of the fake Star. The demon was breathing heavily, his eyes white, but no magic. He was turned around by Brian, who put his hands on his face. "Focus." said Brian, "Who are you?"  
"I have to..."  
"Who are you?"  
"Star..."  
"Who. Are. You?"  
"Tom..."  
"That's right. You're Tom. Where are you from?"  
"Underworld."  
"Who are your parents?"  
"King Brandon and Queen Adelaide."  
"Why are you here?"  
"I know Mirwena's the murderer."  
Tom closed all three eye and sighed. Brian dropped his hands. "Thank you." he said  
Brushing his hands through his hair, he looked up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure how much more I can take of this."  
"You have to stay in control." said Brian  
"I know. I need to get out of here."  
"May your father can-"  
The fake Star coughed and took in a breath. She began laughing. "What are we going to do next?"  
Tom growled and began stomping towards the fake Star. "T-tom?" asked Brian  
The demon picked up the fake Star by the hair and made her stand up. "You like that?" he asked  
"Of course I do!" she said, cheerfully  
He grabbed the back of her skull and slammed her hard against the glass, knocking her out cold and breaking her nose. Brian looked at him in fear. "I didn't kill her." said Tom, "It's damn tempting though. I think I know how to get out of here, but I have to get these cuffs out first."  
Brian licked his lips. Mirwena allowed him to feed Tom, and gave him the choice of walking away if Tom became too much. Mirwena said he wasn't a threat. He was human, and was the weakest person in the kingdom. The dark witch had placed cuffs on Tom, making him as weak as any human. He couldn't use any demon magic and he couldn't teleport to Earth. Mirwena had locked up all the dimensional scissors the servants could get their hands on. Asking for help from his father was useless. He was a zombie. Looking at Brian with a hint of sadness in his three eyes, he took a deep breath. "You'll have to make a deal with Mirwena."  
"A deal? Me? I don't want to lose-"  
"You're not going to lose your soul. Witches, especially dark witches are good at making deals. Just, get Marshmallow and leave. Just...make a deal of forgetting about me."  
"Tom, I can't just-"  
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! SHE'S TOYING WITH ME BY KEEPING YOU HERE?! SHE WANTS ME TO KILL YOU WHEN I FINALLY SNAP!"  
Tom buckled under the pressure of his anger and fell to his knees in pain. "I can't kill you either." he said, "Just...take care of Marshmallow."

Ro hated Ozma Academy. She really wanted to be back at the coven, checking in on Star and Marco. Still, Devi said there wasn't much she could do. Knights were out searching for Mirwena, and she still had training. Ozma Academy was like any other school...except it was a school for witches with no boys and the witches here had the worst pecking order in history. It was weird that nobody had committed suicide from all the pressure and torture. At least she got to go home to Earth, which was much more than she could see for the others. She still had to follow the curfew order though. The pecking order didn't really affect her like the other rookie witches. Sure, she had to endure jealous stares, but nobody really wanted to mess with her without risking the wrath of the High Witches of Earth. Still, there were three that had to bother her every day, the daughters of the Coven of Ersca. They looked like normal teenage girls...except for cat-like eyes and long tails. Werecats were what they would be called on Earth. 'The day is almost over...' she thought, 'Just get through lunch and the next two periods.'  
She slid through the crowd gathering at for lunch. This was the most violent part of her day. She just got out of transmutation class with an 'A' for her assignment. Potions were a cinch for her because she thought of potions like baking. Actually, it made her think of Baking Class back at St. Augustine's. Lunch made her on edge, having to defend herself from the Ersca girls, and hopefully disappear in the background. The elves assigned to lunch unsealed the doors and the large ballroom was quickly filled with witches of all classes and worlds. Ro assigned herself to a corner next to the window, hopefully hiding herself away. Her poofy gothic lolita skirt conformed as she sat. She looked like the others, except she wore a lolita skirt and victorian petticoat buttoned down top. Making Gothic Lolita fashion from scratch wasn't easy, but at least she freedom to use her mother's office as a sewing area until she got back. "G-good a-a-afternoon." said a tiny voice  
She looked up at the blue female pixie. Like the other pixie and elves working, they all feared the witches. With good reason though. Unlike Ro, the other ones seemed to take delight in torturing them. "Let me get...hmm...stuffed chicken with string beans. Oh, and a cherry pepsi."  
"Ummm..." started the pixie  
"I know you can summon Earth phone. Just do it."  
The pixie stammered and gave a obedient bow. Flying off, she sighed and looked out the window. Human classes were easy, two art classes that consisted of singing and artwork. Fireworks exploded in the middle of the room. The freshman were having a field day learning minor explosive magic that she mastered in two days. Being a senior was pressure, but having to High Witches tutoring you got her through the first three years. Devi and Justine said that she was a natural, due to her bloodline. Picking up magic spells and spells was easy, being a witch of neutral magic was going to be the hardest. Butterflies flew above her head and she sighed, flicking them out the way. The pixie came back and delivered her meal. Before she could even bite into her chicken, she heard three voices ring out and made her groan. Luckily, she brought her food container. "Who the fuck told you freshmen to let of fireworks in here?!" yelled one  
Taking a bite of string beans, she slid them into a separate container. Popping it closed, she quickly put it in her bag with her bottle of cherry pepsi. The leader of the Coven of Ersca, Ju-li, grabbed one of the freshman witches by the cuff of her shirt. "You didn't even wait for us to come in." she said, "You'll learn who rules the school soon enough."  
Ju-ni, the second eldest, with the white tail, flicked a pixie into a wall. As she cried out in pain, another pixie came to help her up. The cafeteria got quiet. Ju-ri, the youngest, scanned the room. "Who knows transmutation?" she asked, "I need a new scratching post."  
Ro tried to quietly zip her bag when the three of them stared at where she was. Ju-li smirked and walked over with her green eyes focused on her. 'I think I need to just get my food packaged so I can leave quickly.' she thought  
"Oh look," teased Ju-ri, "the new High Witch is hiding in a corner. Not very courageous are you?"  
The other witches began laughing and Ro sighed. Zipping the rest of her bag up, she stood up straight. Her high heel Mary Janes clacked as she stood. She flung her bag over her shoulder and began walking past Ju-li when she nearly tripped her. Luckily, she used her magic to get a chair to balance her. "Where do you think you're going?" asked Ju-ni, "We need somebody to do our transmutation magic."  
Ro flipped her the bird with her stiletto nails. "Fuck you." she said, "Find somebody else."  
The entire cafeteria gasped. Ju-li grabbed the back of her shirt. "The fuck you said to my sister?" she growled  
Ro quickly slapped her hand away from her shirt as she turned quickly. "I told her 'fuck you', and don't touch me. You pull this shit on everybody in school. You don't own anything. Lest of all, me."  
Ro could feel the tension in the room. The Coven of Ersca was going to go on the attack. A bunch of students quickly got up fro their seats and stepped back. Ju-ri was the most headstrong, going straight for her with her claws, and Ro used magic to slam her against the wall. "Sister!" yelled Ju-ni, "You bitch!"  
The other sisters were creating dark magic around her. As they attacked, Ro created a shield and flung their magic back at them. She began to float herself, her brown eyes turning dark. "You think your rule here?!" she yelled, "You don't own shit! I'm the descendent of Marie Laveau. THE VOODOO QUEEN!"  
Dark lighting came down, making both girls scream in pain. Ro could feel the energy leaving her body, but she didn't care. All magic took energy, and summoning dark lightning took time and energy. Mirwena mastered it in 50 years. The sisters hissed and back away. Ro shakily came down, her eyes turning normal. She pointed a stiletto nail at Ju-li. "Find someone else to torture." she said, "Next time, my sisters will come and finish what I started."  
As she walked away, she heard Ju-ni yell: "YOU'RE JUST AS CRAZY AS THAT MIRWENA BITCH!"  
Dropping her bag, she stared at her, not with magic, but with pure hate. Her heels clacked hard as she raised a shaky hand to the coven girl. "I don't need dark magic to defeat you." she growled  
Before she could slap Ju-ni, her hand was grabbed. She looked back at Headmistress Galena. "That's enough." she said, "The battle's won. You three girls come to my office in an hour after you've cleaned up this mess. Miss Dubois, you come with me right now."  
Headmistress Galena was a tough old witch, with horns and a human body. She allowed Ro to pick up her bag. 

Star watched as her mother nervously put her tea down. Everything that was happening in the Queen's past was coming full-circle. Devi sighed and brushed some of her purple hair out of her face. "Moon," she started, "we knew this day was going to come."  
"I know...but I never thought this soon" she said  
Moon looked down cast and rubbed her temples. Justine was using her light magic to help speed up Star's incantation. Magic was used all the same, but there were different channels. The people of Mewni called out their magic, and had magic all around them, unlimited. On Earth, however, magic took energy, and came from the soul. The older Star became, the more aware she was of how limited Earth magic was. It was good that Ludo was easier to defeat due to his incompetence or the wand would've been stolen from her a long time ago. Justine hummed to herself in gaelic as she channeled her green aura. Her red hair tied up in a bun as she continued to hum. Her hair often was a pain for her. Star watched her in intent as the other women talked. She didn't know how her mother knew about the High Earth Witch Coven, but her mother was going to have to explain everything to her one day. Justine took her hand and looked at her. "Hum with me, child." she said  
Star did as she told, and the hairline crack began to heal. "She's very talented." said Devi  
Moon looked at her with a knowing look. With short cut purple hair, and blue eyes showing through sunglasses, she knew that smirk. "No." she said  
"I didn't say anything."  
"Star's destined for Mewni. I don't have a second child."  
"I wasn't implying anything. We already have our hands full with a new member. Though, she's surpassed Luna-"  
"I know! You don't think I haven't noticed?!"  
The was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Star had never heard her mother raise her voice like that before. Thumping of heels came running down the hallway. "I'm here!" yelled Ro, "Sorry, I had to do some...oh...did I interrupt something?"  
Devi rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. "This is our newest sister." she said, "Rochelle Dubois. Rochelle, this is Queen Butterfly of Mewni."  
Ro's eyes widened and she looked down at her capris. She changed back to capris after coming back from school, but kept the rest of her outfit. "Oh..your majesty..." She said, curtseying, "It's an honor to meet you."  
Star snorted and Ro glared at her out the corner of her eye. Moon looked at the small black top hat with a purple flower that was tilted the side. "You're hat..." started Moon, "it seems crooked."  
Ro got up quickly and patted the hat. "It's Earth's Gothic Lolita style. Don't worry, it won't come off. Am I...allowed to sit?"  
"Ro," sighed Devi, "she's not Queen Elizabeth II. You won't be judged..too much...for being a teenager. Just sit."  
She merely nodded and sat. "That should heal it for now." said Justine, "Just don't use magic for 48 hours and you should be fine."  
"48 hours?" whined Star  
Moon gave her a knowing look and she merely nodded. "Now then," started Devi, "onto our second problem. Mirwena's gotten herself an army, and apparently is now Queen."  
"Queen?" asked Star, "Queen Adelaide wouldn't let that happen."  
"Queen Adelaide's dead. It probably was Mirwena that did it. Considering what type of witch she is now, she probably made a possession spell to make the king fall in love with her. Some of our liaisons in the Underworld said that Adelaide was killed by holy water mixed with her wine. How she could've gotten her hands on it is beyond me. Dark witches can't touch the stuff, and demons can't touch it."  
"What about Tom? He wouldn't allow this to happen."  
"Nobody's heard from Prince Thomas since the coronation. We have to assume the worst."  
"Tom..."  
"Mirwena might not have killed him yet, darlin'." said Justine, "She needs at least one member of the royal family alive."  
"You said king was alive."  
"King Brandon's body is there." started Devi, "But knowing Mirwena, the soul has probably already left the body."  
Star looked despondent and looked over at Ro, who looked at the floor. "What if we get Tom out?" asked Star  
"What?" asked Moon, "Absolutely not! You're not going anywhere near the Underworld!"  
"She has a point." said Ro, "If someone were to get Tom out, Mirwena would be left with a shell of the King, and no anchor for an heir."  
"Good idea darlin'" said Justine, "Just go in and bust down the doors."  
"No." said Devi, "We can think of a way to get Tom out, but we're not going in half-cocked. Justine, not everybody wants to do have an all-out brawl. Besides, there's the whole treaty between witches and demons, we'll set back covens everywhere by 2,000 years."  
"We could just use my bell to go down there like a friendly visit." said Star  
"No Star." said Moon, "You can't use your magic for 48 hours and Mirwena's not going to let this coven into her territory without instigating war. We have to do this carefully."  
Ro licked her lips and thought about Kill Bill. She really wanted to watch that movie...and then she got an idea. "Hey Devi?" asked Ro  
"Yes?"  
"Do Star and I really need to be here? I mean, I can't use my magic after dark and Star's down for the count."  
"Good point. You should get to your studies. We'll call you back here if we need you."  
"Hey Star, up for Quentin Taratino movies? I have his entire collection at my house in New Orleans. We can go with Marco and watch it...if it's ok with your mother, that is."  
"Go." said Moon, "I hope you enjoy this Taratino thespian."  
"Moon," started Justine, "Quentin' Taratino isn't-"  
Devi made a cutting motion with her hand. "What?" asked Moon, "Isn't what?"  
'Don't let her know about the movies.' mouthed Devi  
"Oh he's not just any thespian. He's the thespian. Star's gonna get a great immersion in culture."

Marco was extremely bored, considering he was stuck in a room for hours as he healed. He was hoping to get home in a few hours. He saw both Devi and Justine, with Justine giving him a potion for accelerated healing. Ro left her Nintendo 3DS for him to play, even though she could've left all her other consoles to him, or even a laptop. He began walking around after getting a rousing fail on Fire Emblem. His body felt better, but weaker. Justine said that his soul needed time to heal from the dark magic that was pumped into him. "I think we need to find Tom." said a familiar voice  
Marco shut the 3DS off and looked at the two women. Both of them looked worried. "What happened?" he asked  
"Well," started Ro, "the old ladies are in there trying to make up a plan to get Tom out of there."  
"Hey!"  
"We're teenagers, our parents are old."  
"They're gonna get Tom out?" asked Marco  
"Yeah, but, we can't just go in there. There's this whole peace thing that was made up between witches and demons. We can't just go in guns-blazing."  
"Who would blaze a gun?" asked Star  
Both Marco and Ro looked at her incredulously. "Star," started Marco, "that's a figure a speech. It means going in impulsively without a plan."  
"And I may have an idea." said Ro  
"What?" asked Star  
"You can't go through. With your wand on the fritz, you can't use magic. I was thinking...let me get some potions and get you two back home. I don't think Justine would mind Marco going home to heal."

This was a bad idea. Marco knew this was a bad idea when he drank the potion. Despite it tasting like chocolate ice cream, the side effects were painful. Star pleaded to help, but Ro said that she was needed on the other side. Despite the fact that witches could open portals to other dimensions, using the bell was the better trick, since Mirwena could possibly detect her when she entered through that means. He looked at himself in the mirror, black horns, log black hair, and red eyes with black scleras. His skin was deathly pale, and the mole under his eye was gone. With black claws, he found it lucky that Ro could use magic to change his outfit. He looked like a Japanese rockstar. "What's up with you and Japanese fashion?" he asked  
"My parens sent me a lot of stuff from Japan while they were away." she answered, "I guess it stuck with me."  
She looked like a horned demon, deathly pale, demon, but she looked like a succubus with a long tail, and a bunny suit that pressed out her breasts. Two things crossed Marco's mind that day: 1) He really wished Star didn't find that in his Mom's closet, 2) He hoped to never see his cousin dressed so scantily clad again and could scrub the whole image from his brain. She changed to a pair of spiked heels and regular stockings, considering that fishnet may be too overboard. Star looked sadly at Marco and he hugged her. "I'll be back." he said, "We'll get Tom and be back before you know it."  
He kissed her and Ro looked away from the scene. Star really felt left out, and she wished she could take her with her, but the wand was disabled, and Star didn't now how to use magic out of instinct. She handed her boyfriend the bell and crossed her arms. "You'd better come back." she sighed  
Ro stuffed a few items into what looked like a large spider, which was half-correct. It was a transmutated purse turned into a spider. She tapped the spider/purse's face and it obediently closed. "Just in case we run into any problems." she said, "I'm not sure if Mirwena would be effected, but maybe other demons would. Oh wait, Star, do you have anything of Tom's we can use besides the bell?"  
"Ummm...yeah, I think I do."  
Star opened a trunk to reveal a few stuffed animals, and pulled out one that looked like something that belonged in a halloween store: a beheaded doll. Ro grabbed it and Marco quirked a brow. "Seriously?" he asked  
"What?" asked Star, "I thought it was a cool gift."  
"Cool if you're Wednesday Adams." said Ro, "This may get destroyed. Is that ok with you?"  
"Yeah," started Star, "it was just collecting dust under my stuffed animals."  
"Just how many of those stuffed animals are from ex-boyfriends?" asked Marco  
"Later." said Ro, "We have a mission impossible to do."  
Marco rang the bell with the tiny hammer, and a demon appeared, carrying an elevator on it's shoulders. The two of them sat on plush seating as they waved at a visibly saddened Star. "Where to, incubus?" it asked  
"Third royal family realm." answered Marco, "Hey, what happened to my voice?"  
"Took long enough. The potion altered our voices. We can't use our regular voices. What if we run into Mirwena? I only can do so much and I'm not sure how well the cloaking spell is going to work."  
Looking at all the flames and suffering of creatures made Marco uneasy. He looked away and looked at his cousin, who was enchanting the headless doll. Green dust from a bottle surrounded the inanimate object and it began to glow. She shook it in front of Marco's face. "This should let us find Tom sooner and get out of here." she said  
Marco hugged his knees up to his chest, which was a feat, considering he was wearing tight black leather pants. "How you can be so confident?" he asked  
"Confident? I'm about to freak. I'm going down into the depths of hell to get a demon out, and hopefully we make it out alive without our souls being stolen. So yeah, freaking out a bit now. Then, I have to explain to Devi and Justine why I defied their directive. After that, we gotta figure out what to do with him, and my parents...oh man. They're gonna be so pissed when they find out that I-"  
"Breathe."  
"What?"  
"Breathe. You're about to hit the wall."  
Ro licked her lips and looked at her cousin. She was usually the more impulsive of the two, where Marco learned control. She began to look out at the flames of hell and got an uneasy feeling. "I really messed up." she said  
"What?" asked Marco, "How did you mess up?"  
"I mean...Mom and Dad really wanted me to stay in that school. They work their asses off for me to go to a private school and I just declined it to be a witch. Do you have any idea how off the wall that sounds?"  
"As insane as it sounds to have a princess from another dimension living in your home. Look, you're not perfect."  
"Tell all these people that. My parents call me gifted because I moved up a year. I mean, I'm a year younger than you. Then, there's the whole thing with the coven. It's so much pressure. You are so lucky to just have open-minded parents."  
Marco walked over and sat next his cousin, rubbing her shoulders. "It's gonna be ok." he said, "I mean, you have the Safety Kid on your side. It can't be that bad for you."  
"Right." snorted Ro, "The Safety Kid."

Mirwena gave a low chuckle as she watched Brian leave. Once he reached the surface with that insufferable rabbit, Tom had nobody left in his corner. He had no choice but to kill the bane of his existence and then submit to her will. Everything was coming into place. Once he killed what he thought was a doppleganger of Star Butterfly, he would lose all hope. The Blood Mirror was never wrong, but there were always two choices. The second choice never showed up, since she smashed it. The first...the daughter of her first love. Sure, she broke rules making her travel across two dimensions and turning her body into Star Butterfly's, but she thought it was way worth it to see the look on her former love's face when he found out she was dead. Speaking of that doppleganger, she brought up a mirror to the dungeon. Tom still sat in the position he was in when Brian left. He didn't speak, or acknowledge the doppleganger. She growled a bit and made the mirror disappear. Fine, if he wasn't going to kill her, he was going to have his spirit crushed watching her die. She got up from her seat and opened the door to the study. "Guards!" she yelled  
Two large bahamut-looking men came in. "Bring Tom and that doll here." she said, "And have an incubus and succubi bring up a bowl and knife. We're gonna have ourselves a old-fashioned torture scene. Actually, have the incubus and succubi bring Tom, they usually are good at draining spirit out of strong-willed creatures."  
As they left, she pulled out a vile of blood and drank it. Her horns grew more. She then felt a chill go up her spine. Closing her eyes, she felt aura. For a moment, she sensed a witch, but it was very faint. Pulling out a different mirror, she tried to find the source of the aura, but nothing was there. The coven wasn't so stupid to infiltrate, they would have a war on their hands.


	3. Escape From Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco and Ro venture into hell. Tom's going to break anytime soon if they don't get him out.

Chapter 3: Escape from Hell

 

            Marco looked nervously at the demon that he knocked out with a roundhouse kick. He was gonna be pissed when he woke up. Ro looked at him with astonished eyes. Fixing her outfit, she wished she brought her smarphone for that action. One of the demon guards at the back door decided to get a bit touchy-feely with Ro, and Marco tried to push him off. Of course, the peaceful talking didn’t work on him, so Marco had no choice but to attack him. He warned him though. The headledss doll glowed brighter and they went through the back door of the wall. Demons of all types stared at them as they entered. Ro licked her lips and then grabbed Marco from behind, rubbing herself against him. “Oh,” she started in the crook his neck, “I think I’m a little scared.”  
“D-don’t be.” Said Marco

He grabbed his cousin’s hand and walked through the courtyard, as she gave a childish shy look. The guards let them in without a word. When the door shut, the two of them shuddered and let go of their hands. Shaking their hands, Marco looked around. They were in a dark kitchen, which looked like a slaughterhouse that housed a fireplace and a cauldron. “I’m gonna need a shower after this is over.” Said Ro

“You couldn’t think of anything else besides a incubus?” asked Marco, “We’re cousins and it feels so wrong when you act like that.”  
“I could’ve picked vampires, but the side effects are horrible. Then, there were the goblins, I don’t think you’d-”

“I get it. Wait, what _side effects_ comes with being an incubus?”  
“….don’t lay down next to Star tonight. You may do something you regret.”

Marco looked at his cousin, annoyed. “Did you even planning on tell me the side effects?” he asked

“When we got back.” She answered, “I knew you would act like this if I told you that you’d be humping Star like a horn dog.”  
“You don’t think that this might be something important to tell me?”

“I _said_ I was going to tell you when we got back. Be lucky you’re a guy. You have _no idea_ what I’m feeling like right now. If we weren’t cousins…nevermind.”

“I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

Ro handed Marco a pot of tea that was hanging from the fireplace and she picked up an available tray of food. “Oh, good.” Said a voice, “You got this without me asking.”  
The two of them looked at a succubus that came flying in the room. “Prince Tom’s going to need that down in the dungeon when Queen Mirwena’s done with him. I would _love_ to see what type of torture Mirwena’s doing to him. He’s been going for two days now.” Walking through the kitchen, they ended up in the main hall. Ro stuffed the doll in the spider/purse, which began to glow brighter. The other demons seemed to ignore them, focusing on whatever work they had. The main hall looked like any other castle in Europe, except the walls were on fire, and it looked like tortured bodies hung up as decorations. Marco had to fight the urge to vomit. Swallowing whatever bile came up; he looked at his cousin, as she was focused on using her spider/purse as a compass. “There’s something that’s been bugging me.” He said

“Yeah?” she asked

“Just how did you get the essence of succubi and incubi? You said that the school keeps potions ingredients locked up.”  
“While you and Star were having dinner, I portaled back home and got in touch with a local voodoo shop. Of course, the lady wasn’t a great practitioner, and I was lucky to keep my potion notes on hand. I got some other ingredients for some other things, in case we need it.”

The spider/purse glowed and floated upward. “Hey!” he yelled a voice

Marco snatched the spider/purse down. A large ogre came stomping towards them. “Queen Mirwena needs a new incubus and succubus in her room after Prince Tom goes down to the dungeon.” He said, “I hope the torture stops. It’s getting on my nerves. I’m surprised he hasn’t gone nuts after what she’s doing to him. She’s wilder than Queen Adelaide ever was.”  
Hearing a blood curdling scream, the two cousins looked at each other as the ogre walked away. “Torture?” asked Marco

“Mirwena’s probably trying to get him to submit.” Said Ro, “Devi said that she needed him to be submissive. I’m not trying to think of what she needs from him.”

The spider/purse lead them to a wall. “How do we get in?” asked Marco

“I hate this maze…” muttered the demon attendant

He pulled a lever, making the doorways spin. People stood still, waiting for it to stop. When the hallway door opened, the screams seemed to be louder. They continued, the hall being pitch black, except for the fires illuminated from the windows. Hearing those screams, Marco ran for the nearest vase and vomited. Ro put the tray on the windowsill and then rubbed his back. She flicked her left wrist, trying to get the nervousness out of her system. “This is horrible.” He said, “I didn’t know people could scream like that.”

“I wish I could tune it out.” Said Ro, “I wanna go back.”  
“What?”  
“I don’t know what Mirwena’s doing to Tom, but I can’t take it.”

She leaned against the window and slid down to the floor. She clutched her head as she looked at the floor in fear. “I didn’t know…” she said “those screams…it’s gonna be with me forever.”

“Rochelle.” Said Marco

“I can’t…I thought I could be this great…I can’t. I’m just a teenager.”  
“Rochelle.”

“Why did I have to –”

Marco slapped her hard. She snapped at him with a dark look and shoved him, standing up. “Thanks.” She said, “But, don’t you ever fuckin’ slap me again.”  
Marco looked at her with fear. She looked like a sociopath, her eyes were black, but they were damn close to it. She rubbed the bruise on her face and pulled out the doll from her spider/purse. “I don’t think we need this thing anymore.” She said

She opened the window and threw it into the fire moat down below. She felt Marco leaning against her. “And our side effects are kicking in.” she said

Stomping on Marco’s foot, he cried out in pain and let go. “Don’t forget I’m your cousin.” She said, “We need to get Tom out of here. The side affects mean that the potion’s going to wear off soon. Slapping me made me remember why we’re here, but I’m also losing touch with my humanity. Soon enough, I’ll feel the full effects of being a succubus, including indulging in other’s pain.”

“What’s going to happen to me?”  
“A need to have sex, same as me. An unending desire to orgasm through the torture of others. We’ll be two sociopaths if we don’t hurry up.”

Ro picked up her tray and looked over at Marco’s left hand. “What?” he asked

“You didn’t spill the tea.”

“Do you have any idea what would’ve happened if I spilled it on you?”

“Still the Safety Kid.”

“Get moving!” bellowed a voice

The two of them stood straight as they saw Tom being dagged by his collar by two trolls. His eyes were sunken in from lack of sleep, His clothes looked like it was ripped apart from something sharp, considering the blood. He breathed heavily as he drug his feet. “The sooner we get you downstairs,” one said, “the sooner we can sleep.”  
“Um…” started Marco

“What?”

Ro held up the tray of food and the other troll rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how much help that’s gonna be.” He said, “Mirwena’s left him without food and he’s out of energy. Considering he has to regrow two toes, you’d probably be better giving me that food.”  
“Queen Mirwena wants him to eat.” Said Marco, “I don’t want to explain how two trolls let Tom die. Do you?”

Both of them looked at the pair in fear. “Of course not.”

One of the trolls picked up Tom and began stomping away. Pressing a panel on a stone wall, bahamut-looking elevator opened and the five of them got in. The first troll looked down Ro’s shirt and licked his lips. “Got plans after this?” he asked

“Gotta be in Queen Mirwena’s room.” She answered, “Wanna join?”  
“HELL NO! You can do that on your own!”  
When the doors opened, the blood-curdling screams were enough to make anyone puke. Marco put an arm around Ro’s shoulder as he start her starting to tremble. Everything in the Underworld was worst than any horror movie she saw. She wasn’t sure if she was going to need her memories erased. The doors finally opened to a hallway lit by torches. The stone spiral stairs didn’t reverberate any sounds. The trolls opened a locked door and threw Tom on a bed. “He’s gonna snap.” Said the one troll, “Five septums says he does in the morning.”

“Heh.” Said the other, “Raise you ten that he doesn’t.”  
As the trolls left, they heard giggling. “Tom.” Said a familiar sing-song voice

A blonde Star Butterfly wearing lingerie. She stroked his head as she sat on the bed. “Did you enjoy yourself?” she asked

Ro looked over at Marco, who was twitching an eye. She wasn’t nude, but she was damn near it. The teddy she was wearing wasn’t helping the fantasy that was right in front of his face. She bounced happily and took the tray from Ro’s hands. “I’ll take this.” She said, happy, “He usually loves when I feed him.”

Marco began breathing heavily and Ro wasn’t fast enough. Fake Star yelped a she dropped the tray and a panting Marco was on top of her. He was panting heavily and began grabbing one of her breasts. “Oh _hell no_!” said Ro, kicking him off, “There’s no way I’m letting you get off to this…fake Star Butterfly. I’m not explaining this to your girlfriend.”

“Aww…” whined fake Star, “I was starting to like it.”  
“ _You_ , just shut up.”

Marco groaned as he felt his side. The haze in his mind was starting to lift, and as he saw the fake Star, he looked around the room. There were various shackles around the room. He scrambled away from the giggling blonde as she sat up. Ro whistle as she looked at the horse on the other side of the room. “Mirwena has some sick machinations about torture.” She said

Tom groaned and struggled to turn on his side. He was currently facedown in the bed, and he didn’t feel like suffocating. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and all because he refused to submit. “We need to get him out of here before those idiots come back.” Said a voice, “I think I can make a portal to get us out at this point, but I’m a bit weak.”  
“What about Mirwena detecting you?” asked a familiar voice

“I don’t think it’ll matter at this point. Unless, you have another idea of getting Tom out of here.”

“I have the dimensional scissors. I could just…what?”

“You guys had dimensional scissors this whole goddamn time?!”  
“Yeah…is that bad?”  
“Yes! We could’ve teleported down here this time and got Tom out without going through all the sneaking around crap!”

“Sorry, I guess I should’ve brought up Star’s dimensional scissors.”

"...just...just help me turn him over before he suffocates."

Tom felt a pair of hands on his body and as he flipped over, he saw a pair of oddly dressed succubus and incubus. They looked like they belonged on the lower levels. The incubi laughed nervously as he looked away. “This is strange.” He said, “I’m rescuing my girlfriend’s ex.”

“Oooh!” said the fake Star, “Are we dating? Does this mean I get to have those scissors?”

“No.”

“Wait…are you taking Tom somewhere? Where are you taking him?”  
“Far away.” Said the succubus

“No!” cried the fake Star, “You can’t! Guards! Jailbreak!”  
Tom rolled his three eyes over to the succubus, who punched fake Star in the face. Of course, this didn’t knock her out, so she merely began running with a bloody nose. The succubus tackled her to the floor. She pulled out something that looked like it came from a spider’s mouth. Covering the fake Star’s mouth, she injected her with something that made her screams weakened. Marco looked at her incredulously as he sat up Tom. “Did you just poison her?” he asked

“What?” asked Ro, “Do I look like a murderer to you?! I just gave her some of Mom’s insomnia pills. She’ll be sleeping for a while. I was actually saving it if we ran into Mirwena.”

Marco said nothing at that moment and held the steady Tom. This gave Ro a moment to look him over. His three eyes were rolling back into his head. “I think he lost a lot of blood.” She said, “We should get him back to my sisters. That’ll give you time to talk to Star and me to get yelled at.”

            Star sat nervously on her bed. It was nearly a whole day of waiting for answer and all she managed to do was eat little cereal and wait in front of the mirror for a call. She watched some videos on Marco’s laptop, but it only kept her calm for a few hours. When the dimensional scissors opened a portal, her face lit up. There was Marco, his normal, human self. She ran up to him and knocked him over with a shower of kisses. “Star!” He whined “Hey, Star!”

She sat up for a moment and he gulped nervously. She was sitting on his crotch. “Uh… Star…” he started, “ _please get up._ ”

“Why?”  
She felt something under her and she jumped up. “Thank you.” Said Marco

“What happened?” she asked, “Is Tom okay?”  
“Is _Tom_ okay? You should be asking if _I’m_ okay. I’m never going down in the underworld again.”  
“Well…what happened?”  
“Let me get a shower and I’ll tell you. I think Ro’s gonna be grounded for a while.”

 

            Mirwena wasn’t sure if she was going to kill that doppleganger or not. Sure, she served her purpose, but she wasn’t sure if she was useful for something else. Needless to say, she wasn’t going to be walking anytime soon. Whoever that pair of succubus and incubus were, they were going to pay dearly for this. At the moment, though, she had to other plans. A ferry was coming across the waters. She was sure to make herself a double as she slipped out castle. The ferry stopped and she paid the driver a coin before the person got off the boat. “Thanks so much for coming.” She said, “I was hoping that you trip here wasn’t too…difficult.”  
“Considering what you did to break me out of intergalactic jail.” Said the voice, “It wasn’t _too_ difficult.”

“Good.”

She created a portal and they were inside the study of the castle. She waved her hand to make double disappear. She removed her hood and the other creature did too. “I see you’ve made a name for yourself down here.” He said

“It’s not difficult when someone’s in grief.” She said, “Though, I didn’t call you here for a friendly chat.”  
“Of course you didn’t. You’re a businesswoman just like I love business as well.”  
“I need you to make a deal.”  
“A deal? With you? Mirwena my dear, I know you. What do I get in return for whatever deal you have for me?”

“How about control of a demon royal family _and_ the chance to take down the Royal Family of Mewni?”  
“And _how_ would you suppose doing that?”  
“King Brandon’s body is without a soul which shouldn’t be hard to transmute. And, my dear _Toffee_ , I know you want the chance to get back at the royal family after what they did to _yours_.”

Toffee smiled evilly. “You’re right Mirwena.” He said, “I do want the chance to get back. But, I’ll have to read the contract first.”

“Of course.”


	4. Nothing Is Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco and Star spend quality time with their mothers. Tom finds out about Quentin Taratino movies. Ro gets a call from her mother.

Chapter 4: Nothing Is Forever

A/N: I wanna give a shoutout to SonicEITE who has been giving me positive reviews since the beginning. I want to let him know that I do read what he has to say.

 

            Justine wrapped Tom’s left hand as he sat up. After two days, he finally woke up. When Ro and Marco appeared with Tom through a portal, Devi was pissed. She had to admit, though, it took courage to go down in the Underworld. Plus, she must’ve not gotten caught, considering that there haven’t been any messages from the council. Still, the girl had woken up in the middle of the night, screaming. Justine had to give her a mild herbal sedative to calm her down for the night. She left the next day for school, and only came for private lessons. She didn’t say much, but she did listen, which was a change from her normal attitude. Tom, on other hand, woke up in excruciating pain. His injuries were extensive; all his fingernails were ripped off his let hand, and two on his right. His face sustained bruising from Mirwena’s punches, and possibly an ogre’s right hook. His right arm and left leg were splashed with holy water and looked like second-degree burns. Screws were implanted in his ankles to keep him from running. Being a demon, he was healing, but he was healing at a rapid rate around the injuries, making everything more painful. Still, if it weren’t for his demon DNA, he would be even more crippled than the normal human from extensive injuries.

            Tom swallowed his dry throat as he looked at the bandages. The anti-magic cuffs were still on his writs. Justine said they needed to keep them on because he was crying out in pan throughout the night while sleeping. He had no control over his nightmares and he could’ve burned the whole place down. Justine handed him an herbal mixture that he drank down quickly. It tasted awful, but it kept his body sustained during the day. “You can’t eat solid foods right now.” She said, “ Mirwena’s been feeding you dragon’s flower. With the cuffs, you probably couldn’t taste it. Anyway, you need to rest in order to heal. I did an extensive surgery last night.”  
Tom nearly spat out the rest of his herbal drink. “Surgery?!” he croaked

“Your body was a complete wreck. Another day or two, you would’ve been dead. You were lucky that Marco and Ro were able to bust you. Anyway, last night should be he last of your surgeries. Get some rest. I’ll be back to check on you later.”  
When the door shut, Tom laid back in the soft bed. It was strange, no flames, no screams of the dead, and he wasn’t even wearing his own boxers. He tried not to think about where they came from, or the pajama pants, because they definitely weren’t Egyptian cotton. As he shut his eyes, his mind kept replaying the last six months, and the extensive torture he went through. Whoever that fake Star was, he regretted whatever abusive treatment he gave her. It was no excuse being under psychological torture. Still, she seemed inhuman, considering how much she kept coming back for more. Then there was the physical torture. The first day he was in Mirwena’s study she began asking basic demonarian questions. Then, came the advanced questions. Finally, she said that she was going to quiz him on the history of the four kingdoms. Every question he got wrong, she hit him with a spiked whip. Then, there were questions about other kingdoms, such as Mewni. She enjoyed cutting his toes off whenever he got a calculus question wrong. Sure they grew back, but demons didn’t lose limbs unless they were powerless.

The walk back to his cell the second day was extremely painful. Still, he wouldn’t give any lesser beings the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. Fake Star made everything worse, asking for sexual favors, which made him angry. The third week in, she asked him questions about royal families again, and this time, she began ripping his fingernails off with a machine that she could just slam her fist down onto. Every single moment of torture, from the nails hammered into his back, from jabbing holey knives into his eye sockets, every moment of growing back limbs, he could remember. His mind then replayed the night he was rescued, which was right after Mirwena decided to stick a holy knife in his knee, but then stopped trying to pop off his kneecap when she received an important message from someone. Being slammed into that bed, it was almost if the trolls wanted him to die. He couldn’t see, but he could hear voices, one of which sounded familiar. An incubus had turned him over and examined his wounds. He then remembered the voice…Marco…Star’s boyfriend. The succubus said that her potion was going to wear off soon, or at least, he must have heard it when they got to this location. She said that she was sorry for being impulsive, but not for saving his life.

Tom could hear voices hours later, waking him up. “I’ll try not to bother him.” Said the familiar voice

Tom turned over to see a teen walking in the room. She was wearing what looked like a white wig, but she had dark skin and brown eyes, and also wore what looked like a doll’s outfit. She rolled her eyes as she shut the door and took her small hat off Her spider/purse crawled form her hip to the dresser. She patted it a bit and it made a squeaking noise. “I don’t’ think I’ll turn you back.” She said, “Though, I wonder how I’m going to take care of you and my familiar when I get one.”

She laid a pile of books on the dresser and summoned a portal. “Stupid Ersca Coven bitches…” she muttered, “Always get away with murder.”

Tom sat up slowly as he watched the witch go back and forth through the portal. She had what humans called a laptop and a duffel bag. Back turned, not even _looking_ at him, she raised a leg and began taking her thigh-hi’s off. Tom gulped nervously and cleared his throat. Even though he was a demon, and seeing a nude woman shouldn’t bother him, he wasn’t sure how this witch would react to him seeing her naked, especially after what happened with Mirwena. She looked at him in shock. She stopped mid-roll and blinked, looking at his bare, purple chest. “How are you feeling?” she asked

“Better.” He answered, “You sound familiar.”  
“Well I should I helped you escape.”

Tom blinked a few times and thought back to the escape. “You don’t look like a succubus.” He said

“I used a very strong transmutation potion. I worked like…well, magic.”

“The incubus was a potion too?”  
“Yeah. Marco aid it tasted great so I at least perfected the taste.”

“Marco? Wait…Starship’s…boyfriend…”  
She sighed and folded her eyes. She could see the hurt and probably humiliation in his face. “Look,” she started, “Star was worried about you…as a friend. Well maybe closer than a friend but not a boyfriend. Anyway, as much as she’s pissed at you, she’s not cold-hearted. Marco would do _anything_ to make her happy, even if it means going down to the Underworld with his witch cousin, and nearly getting caught in the process. From what Marco’s told me, she still cares, just not as much. Trust me when I say _him_ saying something abut his girlfriend’s ex is a lot. “  
“…he must be a great guy…”  
“Tom, he’s the _Safety Kid_.”  
“Safety kid?”  
“He’s always looking for the safest route. Nothing about him spells ‘danger’.”  
“Oh.”  
“Can you do me a favor?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Can you _please_ put a shirt on? The succubi essence is still my system. Unlike the Safety kid, I’m not related to you.”

“How did he get that title?”  
“Just put a damn shirt on!”

           

            Marco sneezed as he went to take out the popcorn from the microwave. He just cleaned the kitchen and there should be no dust. Shrugging, he went into the living room while Star thought about what to watch for movie night. Sure, they could’ve went into either’s room, but ever since the two of them started dating, they both agreed to watch movies in the living room so that Mrs. Diaz would stop ‘accidentally’ walking on them not doing anything. Marco established this after they were watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. All he did was cuddle Star and his mother went 0 to 10 in a split-second. The sex talk made everything worse that night. “Are we going to watch Quentin Taratino movies?” asked Star, happily  
“Uh…I’m not sure I want to watch that after being down in the Underworld. How about something else…Star Wars?”

“What’s Star Wars?”  
“…you’re kidding, right?”  
“No.”  
“Right, we just started this movie night thing. Star Wars is an epic battle against the Sith. The Jedi Knights…wait, Jedi, Episodes 1 to 3 didn’t happen. We’re watching 4 to 6.”

“Why not Episodes 1-3.”  
“It never happened.”  
“But-?”  
“It _never happened_.”

“…ok?”  
“You’ll thank me someday.”

Marco set up the Roku Box to play Star Wars Episode. As he did, Star snuggled up to him. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were back, and currently watching them from afar. Mr. Diaz was in the office, but there was no sign of Mrs. Diaz. She did awkwardly ask what happened to her Halloween costume, but neither teen would answer her. She got suspicious, but she then retorted that Star couldn’t wear anything in her size. That made Marco shove out his mother. “Why does the show have a long intro?” asked Star

“It’s explaining episodes 1 to 3 in a nutshell.”

“It’s gong by too fast and I can’t see the small letters.”  
“I’ll tell you the abridged version later.”

 

            Stuntman Mike was currently getting chased by three females in a 1970 Dodge Challenger. Tom grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it in his mouth. Ro claimed that Quentin Taratino was a genius filmmaker, but he wasn’t sure how. There weren’t any movies in the Underworld, but dark memories that could be replayed by everyone. He didn’t even care for things like that, especially when Star came in his life. She showed him that there was more to life than creating misery for others, and what she was opinionated on meant a lot to him. She was a wonderful girl, and his heart sank every time he thought about how he abused the fake Star. The sound of sinister music began playing and Ro jumped up from her seat on the floor. “Shit!” she said

She paused the video and slid the phone to answer. “Hi, Mom.” She said

“Darling,” started her mother, “I just got an email that you’re not attending St. Augustine’s anymore and you transferred out. Care to explain this?”  
“Oh? Uh….yeah, I took a semester off to attend Ozma Academy.”  
“Yes, I saw something about that. Funny, I don’t see Ozma Academy anywhere on the internet.”

“Yeah well, it’s a special program for gifted kids. No internet there, no forms of technology, well…some…but, it’s plain study. I’ll be getting a leg-up from the other St. Augustine girls.”  
“Hmm…I’ll have to interview the headmaster when I get back. Remember, we have to stick to the plan so that you get into Spellman.”

“I know Mom. I texted dad about Ozma Academy and he was thrilled at the idea of me going to a special school.”  
“Of course he was. The free-thinking fool never planned to called me about this. Well anyway, I was planning on being back in a few weeks but, it seems like the project is taking longer than expected. I may be gone for over a year. I don’t like leaving you alone for such an extended period of time. Can you stay at your grandmother’s for a while?”

“What about Aunt Angie? She could-”

“Absolutely not! You know your Aunt’s not capable of even watching her own son, let alone you. What?....hold on…Unbelievable, Rochelle, I have to go.”

The phone clicked off and Ro groaned. “Rochelle?” asked Tom, “Your name’s Rochelle?”

“The only people that call me that are my parents.” She said, “Let’s get back to the movie, it’s almost over.”

As the movie kept playing, she at down and began eating popcorn. It was then Tom thought about earlier when she changed into the tank top that read ‘Studio Killers’. “You never explained who Studio Killers are.” Said Tom

“After the movie.” She said

Tom studied her face for a moment. She looked stressed, but she was clearly trying to let go of something. When the girls got Stuntman Mike out the car, he was pleased with the roundtable of punches he was getting to the face. The roundhouse kick looked especially painful as he fell to the ground. “So…” started Tom, “your Mom.”  
“She’s uptight.” Said Ro, “Ever since Mom and Dad split, Mom’s had me on this ‘plan’ to make me the ace student. What she doesn’t know is, I aced all my classes, I was just hanging around St. Augustine’s for attendance purposes. I’m part of the gifted class, our semester ended early.”  
“Your parents split?”  
“Yeah, I was young when it happened. But, my Dad’s way more open-minded than Mom. Wanna watch something else?”  
“I dunno. I kinda want to get to know you more.”  
“Why?”  
“I felt like it. I don’t see star, I can’t go anywhere without getting the okay from Justine.”  
“Right. I probably should’ve played the entire Grindhouse series. I gotta go through tutoring in a few minutes.”

“Because you’re a High Witch.”  
“Yeah. We can talk more when I get back. Here, let me put on Planet Terror. It does chronologically happen after Death Proof.”

She typed in a few words on her laptop and left the room Going down the hall, she began to think about how she was going to explain all of this witch activity to her mother. This wasn’t in the plan. “Screw the plan..” she muttered

“What?” asked Devi

“Nothing. Just…talking to my mother.”

“Did you tell her about the fact that you’re now a High Witch?”  
“No.”  
“Rochelle.”  
“I didn’t get a chance to. Mom works off the grid a lot. Our conversations are usually…stagnant.”

Devi adjusted her sunglasses and leaned against her desk. “I see…” she started, “anyway, your next lesson will be elemental magic. You never know when you’re going to need it. Back in the 1900s, I needed it to cover myself in the dead of night when travelling. When you don’t age like me, people get suspicious when they’ve known you for over 50 years.”

 

            Toffee went over paperwork like it was nothing to him. Mirwenas’s deal made him the king of a royal family, which meant work. On the side, was the job of getting other dark witches out of jail. The light prison that kept them was all but impenetrable. When Mirwena was locked up, she made a bond with two other witches, Ameila Dyer a witch from Earth, and Sevigny, a with from Ersca He wasn’t sure why she needed to have the other two witches with her, but it had something to do with whatever plan she had for the Grand High Witch. Toffee shuddered a bit. Magic was never something he wanted to deal with. Going down the list of things the king needed to do, snuffing out a rebellion should be easy. But, a neighboring kingdom was trying to flex it’s muscles in wake of the former Queen’s death. That particular issue was going to take strategy, and a lot of political know-how. Mirwena created a portal to phase into the room. She yawned and sat in a chair across from her. Her hair was a mess, but she always wore an outfit in good taste. “I actually enjoyed sleeping.” She said, “I haven’t done that in 50 years.”  
“My guess is that it had something do with the incubus visiting you last night?” asked Toffee

“Probably.” She answered, “It _is_ normal to have a succubus or incubus on hand, you know.”  
“A Queen needs to be regal to her people.”  
“I’m a Demon Queen, regality doesn’t mean that much down here.”  
“Mirwena, we need to show that we’re not a lackadaisical kingdom and a force to be reckoned with.”  
“Why do you think I wanted you to get my girls out?”

“That takes time. You need to think about long-term goals.”  
“You mean an heir? I was planning on producing an heir with Tom after I broke him, but the little bastard escaped. But, there are plenty of other demons that can do the job _and_ keep their mouths shut.”

“You mean you kill them?”  
“Acutally, no. I haven’t felt the need to kill right now. They haven’t done anything to annoy me…except for that one incubus.”  
“…right. We also have a problem with a neighboring kingdom that needs to be handled politically.”  
“So I can’t outright kill them?”  
“Not if we don’t want to start war. Luckily, I’m assembling spies as we speak.  
“What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing at the moment. Our enemies will assemble, and I’ll need you to attend meetings with me when they do. For now, focus on producing an heir.”  
“We also have to find a way to deal with the Mewni royal family.”

“I thought that was your vendetta.”  
“Yes, but the Mewni royal family, particularly the females, are one of the dominant holders of light magic.”  
“Do you mean Star Butterfly? She’s using rookie magic. After what I did to Luna, I doubt her mother lets her do anything powerful.”

“Don’t underestimate your enemy. You killed Moon’s sister. A mother would do anything to protect their child.”

Mirwena said nothing and left the room. Toffee sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, something he couldn’t do before. His mind reeled back to when he was a child. The hand that lost a finger wasn’t there anymore. He couldn’t let the Mewni royal family get away with what was done with him. He was going to get rid of all that power, one way or another.

 

Both Moon and Star sneezed at the same time. They looked around the courtyard, but nothing was setting of their allergies. “Oh dear.” Said Moo, “I hope we haven’t caught anything in that pocket dimension.”  
“I don’t so.” Said Star, “Why are you calling me to Mewni for private magic lessons?”

“Because, with Mirwena running around, I think its time for you to learn more advanced spells.”  
“You already taught me the whispering spell. Plus, I know to amplify regular spells.”  
“I know dear and… considering when Marco got captured and your emotional outburst at that. Then, there’s the whispering spell. You need to learn advanced spells _and_ learn to control your emotions.”  
“Marco likes my emotions.”  
“That’s good, but you need to learn control. As a future Queen of Mewni, your powers will continue to grow. No matter who becomes your King, you will hold the true power in the kingdom.”

“If Marco’s king, I don’t think he’ll mind me holding the true power.”

“Dear, nothing lasts forever. How do you know that you’ll be marrying Marco?  
“I feel it in my heart.”  
“That’s no guarantee you’ll be marrying Marco. All Queens to be have to look into the Astral Mirror on their 18th birthday.”  
Star looked crestfallen at the news. She loved Marco. Who would replace him? Moon and Star stopped at Princess Luna’s Memorial Garden. This was erected shortly after the Princess’ death. Moon created it in her grief in one day while pregnant with Star. As the two of them walked through the garden, Star noticed all the multicolored flowers, and the few animals that lived here. In the center of the garden was a statue of Luna. She looked like an older version of Star, except she didn’t have horns, nor did she have a simple dress like she wore. Luna wore full armor and had a wand. On her belt was a sword. Star looked down at her wind. “Did Aunt Luna use this?” she asked

“No.” answered Moon, “Luna was a rare birth and her own wand had to be made. The Butterfly Family usually has only one girl, and multiple boys. Luna was a third known incident of second born girls. She was trained for knighthood while I was training to be ruler.”  
“Where’s her wand?”

Moon stopped walking with her daughter and froze. When Star reached the fountain, she turned and realized her mother was gone. “Mom?” she asked

Gong back, she saw her mother clutching her stomach and was shaking. “Mom?” asked Star

“I was supposed to die…” she muttered, “You got in the way.”  
“Mom? Are you-”

“Moon, go away!”  
“Mom, you’re scaring me.”  
Moon’s hair fell, and she looked at Star in fear.

 

            Marco was bored. Star was gone for a few days to train with her mother. Angie was happy, because she could spend quality time with her son. Rafael was working in the garage. The both of them are taking care of the dishes for lunch. Angie was washing and Marco was doing the drying. Of course, she used this opportunity to begin asking awkward questions to Marco. “So,” she started, “did anything interesting happen while we were gone?”  
“We didn’t have sex.” Said Marco

“Who said anything about sex?”  
“Mom.”  
“Ok, so maybe I’m fishing. You’re going to be a senior this year. Did you put your applications for college?”  
“Some.”  
“Marco, you can’t spend all your time fighting monsters with Star.”  
“I know.”  
“You said you wanted to go to school for psychology. You already scheduled your SATs.”  
“I _know_.”  
“Marco, we just want the best for you. The only way to become a Psychologist is to go to college. Are you sure that you-”

“Mom, I know what I’m doing. I know you’re concerned because you gave up your full ride scholarship in your sophomore year to have me but, Star’s not going to be a distraction.”  
“Of course she isn’t. I love having her around, but sometimes you have to-”

Marco’s pony ringtone started up and Angie gave him a look. He smiled sheepishly and looked at the caller ID: Ro. “It’s Cousin Ro.” He said

Angie’s face lifted a bit. “I haven’t heard from hear in a while.” She said, “Answer it.”

“It’s a text.”  
“What does it say?”  
“Uh…I think Aunt Ruth may be calling.”

Angie’s face upturned into a look of annoyance. Marco looked away for a moment. Aunt Ruth and his mother haven’t gotten along since he was 10. He heard his mother sigh and go back to the dishes. “Alright.” She said, “At least I get a heads up this time. What kind of things is Ro up to anyway?”  
“Um…” started Marco, “Would you believe it if I told you she was a witch?”


	5. Family Secrets

Chapter 5: Family Secrets

A/N: Sorry for taking to so long to produce this chapter. I work Manatory Overtime at my full-time job, which leaves me drained by the end of the week. I’ll try to get things out sooner if I can.

Star sat nervously outside her parent’s room. River had gotten word that Moon was having a panic attack in Princess Luna’s Memorial Garden. When he got there, River was surprised to see Moon clutching to him so tightly. She kept looking at Star in fear. Having the servants escort her to her room, he had to console his daughter, whose happy face was stricken with fear. Star clutched the wand and bit the top of it. Marco couldn’t be called, with her promise to her mother that she wouldn’t contact him during training. Still, she wasn’t sure how far to take the promise. She heard footsteps and was surprised to see Justine walking towards her way. Her orange hair glowed brightly in the sun and her green eyes were full of determination. She glanced over to Star and nodded before going to her parent’s room. Curiosity taking over fear, she leaned herself against the door. “…was supposed to be permanent.” Said River  
“No spell can hide the true self.” Said Justine, “I told Moon the same thing in the beginning.”  
“Can you do it a second time?”  
“I can try but…”  
“But?”  
“There’s no guarantee she won’t revert again.”  
Star stopped listening and sat on her legs for a moment. She tried to think about her childhood. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for one full moon when the monster’s attacked when he was a child. She chewed on her wand again and stood up. She needed to call Marco.

These cuffs were becoming a nuisance. Tom was literally standing in a snowstorm in the garden. Ro was working on elemental magic, and she created a snowstorm in front of his face. If he weren’t wearing the cuffs, he would be able to generate enough heat to melt everything, but here was standing with a puffy coat on and a scarf around his face. Devi supplied him with one when the demon started shivering in the kitchen. She made an off-handed remark about the cold and demons, and then summoned winter gear. The puffy coat was black at least, but why the hell were the gloves and thick scarf purple. Ro smiled at him, thinking it was cute that all she could see from the scarf were his three eyes, nose, and horns. Breath showed in front of his face and he did again. Ro snorted and went back to shoveling. “What?” he asked  
“You keep doing that and you’re gonna pass out.” She said  
“I still don’t understand why the three of you can’t just get rid of all of this with magic.”  
“They’re lazy and I’m tired from using magic. Unlike those two, I just started using magic. It’s energy draining for me. Wasn’t it for you when you were born?”  
“No. I set my crib on fire the first time I cried according to…mother…”  
Ro stopped shoveling and looked at Tom’s sad face. Despite the bravado he was putting up in the tower, he still was depressed. He was being cocky, acting like being powerless was nothing, but him getting angry had the witches laughing more than intimidated. Ro shoved the shovel in the snow, making it stand up. Looking at the snow, she got an evil idea. Creating a snowball, she hit him in the face. Tom sputters and wipes it away. “What the hell ar-oof!” he asked  
Wiping more snow away, he saw her tossing a snowball up in the air. “Come on,” she started, “ _wanna build a snowman_?”  
“Snow…no! Don’t even!”  
She threw another snowball singing: ‘ _Come on, let’s go and play_ ’. “Stop it!” said Tom  
“Hit me.” Said Ro, “ _I don't see you anymore!_ ”  
“Frozen’s torture in hell!”  
“ _Come out the door!_ ”  
“Seriously! We use that torture our enemies!”  
“Make me stop. _It’s like you gone awa_ -ick!”  
Ro brushed snow out of her hair. Tom looked annoyed and she made another snowball. “ _We used to be best buddies._ ” She sang  
“Goddammit!”  
He began throwing another snowball as she continued to sing. She ran behind a tree and sang: “ _Do you wanna build a snowman?_ ”  
“That’s it!” yelled Tom  
As he tackled her, he felt his anger go away as she laughed. “You could just let it go.”  
He snickered and looked away, trying to not turn a shade darker purple. “Ok, ok, I give up….I fuckin’ hate you.” He said  
“You’re not sad anymore.” She said  
“Bring up those lyrics again and I may fry you.”  
“You didn’t even realize I just rhymed, did you?”  
Tom blinked and sighed, nearly next to her stomach. “I really hate you.” He said  
“Fine.” She said, “Get off me.”  
“Why? You’re confortable.”  
“Because I have enough magic to make you sing the entire first act of Into the Woods.”  
“What’s Into the Woods?”  
“Keep sitting on me and you’ll find out.”  
Tom got up quickly, thinking about if it were anything like Frozen. Ro shook off snow and walked towards the shovel. “ _I wish._ ” She sang “ _More than life, more than anything._ ”  
“What are you doing?” asked Tom  
“ _More than jewels._ ”  
“Please stop.”  
“ _I wish_.”  
“Kill me.”  
“Sorry, couldn’t resist. Let’s finish up so we can get inside.”

Justine giggled and walked away from the window. She sipped her tea and looked at Devi using an amulet to track someone on a map. “They’re so cute.” Giggled Justine  
“The kids?” asked Devi  
“Yes.”  
“They’d better be shoveling out there.”  
“They stopped and then started again. We could always melt the snow.”  
“You know we can’t. We’re working non-stop, with you and that incident with the Butterfly Royal Family, plus, working on figuring out what Mirwena’s up to. What Ro needs to be focusing on is the initiation ceremony.”  
“She’s 16. Do you remember what it was like when you were a teenager?”  
“I was a suffragette. I was supposed to be planning on getting married after making my first vote.”  
“I was married. McDounagh was a bastard too…I didn’t have any time to think of anything for myself.”  
“We turned out fine. She needs to work on her magic.”  
“She’s 16. Let her have her fun. Besides, you had fun when you me me.”  
“Still do…over 100 years. Fine, maybe we can give her a bit of a break.”  
“Speaking of breaks, what are you working on that’s been taking you two days?”  
“I’m tracking Mirwena. She keeps teleporting around various dimensions. I don’t know what for though.”  
“Are the other ones out?”  
“No. Still locked up. Which, I think is strange. I thought she would’ve bust them out by now.”  
“Mirwena’s not the type to make the obvious move. There’s something else going on here.”  
Justine grabbed the amulet from Devi. “You need a break.” She said  
“I’m fine.” Said Devi  
She tried to reach for her amulet, but Justine pulls it away. “One hour.” She said  
“Jus.”  
“One. Hour. Mirwena’s not going anywhere really and there are other Covens in different dimensions that can handle the situation besides ours.”  
Devi took off her sunglasses and sighed. Getting up from the desk, she looked over at the wall of spellbooks. “Fine.” She said, “One hour and I’m back to work. Okay Jus.”  
Justine kissed her nose. “Okay.” She said

Star bit on her wand nervously as she sat outside her parent’s bedroom. It annoyed her to no end that nobody would tell her what’s going on, and she couldn’t get in contact with Marco, due to the fact that he wasn’t picking up the mirror in her room. Glossaryk was no help, considering that he didn’t have any knowledge of family history, since the third generation of the royal family decided it was best to keep him out of the loop. Frustrated, Star went to the library, something she hated to do. Being late, there were soldiers around, but no regular servants. The library, though, wasn’t guarded, due to River stating that the library was not a source of power for the monsters. Going through the isles, she looked at the family tree that was in the center. Only two second-born girls…and noticed that Moon and Luna’s birth dates were scratched out. Reaching up for the birth dates to see if they were really scratched off, she heard voices and hid.“Are you sure it’s ok to hide such information?” asked a voice  
“Star must never know.” Said a familiar voice

Star looked at the corner of the library and saw River standing over a creaky floor with a soldier. “Here. “He said, “Star will never find it.”  
“How can you be sure, my Lord?”  
“Star’s not a reader and neither am I. She hates the library.”  
She then saw something spark and the soldier jumped back. “By the Gods!” he exclaimed  
“This way on an Earth Coven member can break the seal.”

When her father and the soldier left, she walked over the space where the two men occupied. The closer she got, the brighter the cinderblock looked. She yelped as she tried to pick it up. Looking at her sore hands, she knew whatever it was a precious secret her parents were trying to hide from her. Sighing, she got up and back at the family tree. As the moonlight hit it, she noticed the golden cloth had some scratching over it. Looking closer, it looked like a silver thread under Luna. Her mother mentioned there were only two Butterfly siblings.

Ro resisted the urge to smack her head against the table. Coming back home with Tom was a good idea in her head, until they went to the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets. A fake fortuneteller was currently arguing with Tom in public. She came home to needing to due laundry, and tom was bored so he decided to tag along. At first, she was hesitant because of his demonic appearance, but Devi made an illusion charm, saying that it was less time consuming. She also seemed eager to get them out of the tower. “You can’t predict anything without power!” argued Tom  
Ro growled and got up form the table. Getting in between the two of them, she just smiled at the woman. “Sorry.” She said, “He’s new in town and a bit of a skeptic.”  
“Skeptic?” asked Tom  
She stepped on his foot and the fortuneteller scoffed and walked way. Ro looked annoyed at Tom, who was currently shaking out his foot. “You can’t go around annoying every person we meet.” She said, “You could’ve just said no.”  
“She was pushy. I just wanted to look at the bunnies you had at the pet store.”  
“Why would you want a bunny?”  
“…I had a pet bunny once…”  
“Seriously? You? A demon with a bunny?”  
“You wouldn’t understand.”

Tom looked away from he, slightly embarrassed. He was waiting for it, the laugh that usually rang when demons heard about his bunny, but nothing came. He looked at her, arms folded around her tank top, pushing up her breasts. She tapped her sneaker-heels, looking at him with a questioning expression. “So?” she asked, “Understand what? You have a damn bunny. It’s a pet.”  
“You…you don’t care?”  
“Why the hell would I care you have…probably had a pet bunny? What’s strange is that you, a demon, didn’t use it for ritual sacrifice or something like that.”  
“I would never use Marshmallow like that! If anybody were to use a bunny for a sacrifice I would hang them from their entrails!”  
“Ok…calm down. Just asking.”  
“Are you planning on using a bunny for sacrifice?”  
“What?! Fuck no! You know how much clean up…you know what, this is turning into a sociopathic conversation, let’s just get you a damn bunny and get going, I wanna get something to eat.”  
Tom watched her walk away staring at her butt in her shorts but then snapped himself out of it when he nearly got ran over by a bike. “Asshole!” he yelled

He really wished he had his power right now. He noticed the people around him, and noticed that there was lot of couples, which made him feel uneasy. The pet store had nobody in it, but there were lots animals. A bunch of birds began squawking, making him yell to shut up. There were times he really hated animals. The snakes in the tank hissed and backed away, and the fish gathered to make themselves look bigger. Ro bent over the bunnie’s cage and picked up a small black one. “This one’s cute.” She said  
Tom blinked for a few seconds, the image of her bent over in shorts was burned into his brain. “Tom?” asked Ro, “Yo, TOM!”  
“What?” he asked  
“The bunny?”  
He looked down at the big brown-eyed rabbit. It sniffed at him a bit. “Nothing black.” He said, “It’ll just blend in around the house and I won’t be able to find him. Are there any pink ones?”  
“Pink ones? Not on Earth. “  
“Damn.”  
“What about brown ones?”  
“No.”  
“Black and white ones?”  
“Nah, reminds me of cows.”  
“White one?”  
“Which one?”  
“Pick one.”

Tom looked at them, some looked at him in fear, others, in curiosity. Reaching his hand over some jumped away…except for a small white one, who jumped over and sniffed his hand. Giving a small smile, he picked it up. Ro smiled and him and took a picture on her phone. “Why did you just take a picture?” he asked  
“It was cute.” She answered  
“I’m not cute.”  
“Yes you are.”  
Walking away towards the cages, Tom blinked a few times and looked down at the bunny. “I’m not cute.” He said, “Right?”  
Ro came back with a cage and then held it out to him. “Just so we’re clear, this is your pet. I don’t want a bunny for a familiar, and you’re not turning it into an killer rabbit.”  
“Killer rabbit?”  
“Yes, so it can guard the cave to the Holy Grail.”  
“Why would anybody want that piece of shit? It’s a huge curse made by the second king’s grandmother.”  
“…”  
“What?”  
“You obviously didn’t see Monty Python and The Holy Grail have you?”  
“What is a Monty Python?”  
“We’re so watching that when we get back. It’s a popular movie from the 70s.”  
“How do you know about movies from the 70s? You’re 16.”  
“Dad was a movie buff. Before my parents split, we used to watch a lot of movies.”  
“That explains the boxes of movies you showed me. Though, shouldn’t you be studying for your magic exams coming up?  
“I need a break. Contrary to belief, all academics need a deflation of complex though sometimes.”  
“You remind me of Star.”  
“What?”  
“You sound like Star when she didn’t want to do any magic.”  
“Right…lets get the bunny some stuff and we’ll call it a day. I want to get some food.”

Marco could feel the tension in the air. Angie was currently on Skype with Aunt Ruth. Both women had an ice cold glare for the other. Marco really didn’t want to be in the room and as soon as Rafael heard Ruth’s name, he left the house. The elder sibling had a big impact in the home. Ruth didn’t look like a menacing monster, however, just an older version of Angie with her hair cropped short. She also didn’t wear makeup. “Angie.” She said  
“Ruth.” Said the other  
“I normally wouldn’t call you in situations like these, but because I can’t count on my ex-husband to do anything right the task falls to you.”  
“I’m overjoyed.”  
“Angie, I need you to keep an eye on Rochelle. Unfortunately, my project has taken a turn into a year-long venture.”  
“What about home schooling her?”  
“She needs social interaction. She left St. Augustine’s without letting me know, her father consents her going to this new school. I don’t even know where this school is or what their ranking is. At your son’s high school, at least she has some type of competition, though I worry about the AP programs. How is Marco?”  
“He’s fine. He’s going to be make honor roll this year.”  
“Good. She needs her cousin to show that life isn’t a game. She’s going to graduate with him.”  
“When are you coming back home?”  
“In a few weeks. That should give Rochelle enough time to pack for the trip to Echo Creek.”  
Marco watched his father sneak in through the back door. “Hey.” He whispered  
“Hey.” Said Marco  
“Is your mother done talking to her sister?”  
“No, not yet.”  
“I really hate when they talk. It always turns into-”  
“Bunta!” yelled Angie, “You always do this leacture!”  
Both Diaz men sighed. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6: Lucky Strike (Part 1)

Chapter 6: Lucky Strike (Part 1)

A/N: Sorry I got to this posting so late. I’ve been working on my own story and am currently going through revision angst. From now until May, I’ll be trying to post at least once a moth. 

Tom fed the white rabbit fresh vegetables watching its cheeks puff out. She was much younger and energetic than Marshmallow, requiring him to make sure that it didn’t get itself hurt. The pet store worker said that this female bunny was weird, and she was fixed because they didn’t need any stranger little bunnies walking around. Tom, of course, got angry that anyone would harm the small creature, but Ro countered that bunnies mated worse than any animal in the Underworld. When they got back, she seemed to lock herself away in her room as she began to study for finals. He was left with the bunny, agreeing on a name for her: Usagi. She went to one last event before getting back, a fireworks display…

He wasn’t expecting something so loud, full of life…and beautiful. As they sat on the blanket away from the crowd, he could see her face light up. The bunny shook until he took it out and held it. She seemed to smile at it, before taking a picture event. He immediately glared, but she just laughed and put it back in her pocket. He also gave a mental reminder of deleting that photo…soon as he figured out how. The colors of the fireworks seemed to reflect off his skin, and as it kept going with music, he could see something never reflected, and innocent type of happiness in her eyes. As the music faded, however, and people went home, she just sat, full in thought. Tom didn’t say much, keeping an eye on the rabbit and making sure she didn’t eat any of the grass. “I gotta study.” She said, “Finals are coming up.”  
“Finals?” asked Tom  
“Yeah, I’m supposed to become a licensed witch. Problem is, I’ll be going back to high school soon. I got so much to do.”  
“I thought that high school was supposed to be fun.”  
“Who told you that?”  
“Starship.”  
“Um…this is the same girl who put landmines on a football field. You can’t take everything she says seriously. Besides…the both of you got it lucky.”  
“How?”  
“You don’t have to deal with high school.”  
“High school?”  
“Social peer pressure, pecking order…social media…that sort of stuff.”  
“Please, I’m a prince. I have to be perfect or my parents will rain down on me hard.”  
“My mother strives for me to be the best. I have to get into the best school while my dad…I don’t even know what my dad is thinking or even doing.”  
“Does your mother make you do spells you hate?”  
“My mother doesn’t even have magical abilities. All this comes from my dad, who I haven ‘t seen in a long time.”  
“I wish my father didn’t hang around so much. I’m being groomed to be the next king of a kingdom that’s falling apart, then I’m supposed to marry a female demon and pop out male heirs.”  
“Heavy.”  
Tom laid back and let the bunny lay on his chest. She looked over at the two them and gave a light smile. “We gotta make a name for that thing.” She said  
“We?” asked Tom  
“I bought the damn thing. I do get a say.”  
“Fine, but not Marshmellow. I love him to much to replace him.”  
“Fine, but I don’t like fluffy, kinda reminds me of a dog.”  
“Fluffy? Eww…too many horrible memories.”  
“How does fluf-nevermind. Tracy?”  
“Tracy? It’s a rabbit.”  
“Ok um…”  
Ro looked up at the moon that was shining down on them and got a bright idea. “Usagi!” she said  
“What?”  
“Usagi! Rabbit of the moon! Sailor Moon! Come on, great name!”  
“Rabbit of the moon?”  
“Okay…what about Usagi Yojimbo? There’s a whole comic series about that guy! Think about it, samurai rabbit.”  
The rabbit jumped onto Ro’s chest and laid down. “I guess she likes it.” She said  
Tom stared into Ro’s eyes and she blinked away from him. “We gotta get back soon.” She said, “I gotta study for finals and you need to get your final checkup.”  
“Think I’ll get my cuffs off?”  
“Probably…if you don’t have anymore night terrors.”  
Ro sat up with the bunny in her arms. “Get the cage.” She said, “She’ll probably be safer in her cage and my arms won’t get tired.”  
His hand brushing hers in putting Usagi in her cage, Tom felt his face go flush. He thought about the time they spent together, just watching movie and playing video games. She wasn’t like Star. She wasn’t as upbeat as she was, and she wasn’t trying to make his situation sunnier than what it was. Still, she did small things for him, like sewing the buttons on his cuffs. She cared, in a different way.

Ameila Dyer looked happily at her youthful face. She had spent so much time in prison trying to make sure she stayed alive, there were no chances to steal youth. Luckily, the pit-stop on the way to the Underworld left a lot of tasty snacks for her to feed on. She looked over at Sevigny who was at work drinking blood from a vial. “To think that our sister hit the jackpot with this spree.” She said, gleefully, “I wonder how she got this one.”  
“I just want revenge.” Said Amelia, “I want those light covens to pay.”  
“And we’ll get what we want soon, sister.” Said a voice  
Both women looked at Mirwena, wearing a long dress with a corset top, and an small bump to her stomach. She walked up to her sisters, who looked at her in shock. “S-sister?” asked Sevigny  
“I know.” Said Mirwena, “It’s unexpected of us, but I have to secure my place in the kingdom.”  
“Are you keeping it?” asked Amelia  
“Yes I’m keeping it! You can’t kill this one!”  
“Well, don’t expect me to babysit or change diapers.”  
“You’re a serial killer who steals life from babies to stay young. Why the hell would I want you anywhere near my child. And you can’t go around killing children in this kingdom to stay young either.”  
“Damn…”  
“So why are we here, sister?” asked Sevigny, “You seem to have it easy here. Losing your touch?”  
“Of course not. With the King’s help, we’re going to take down covens, and bring fire to the Butterfly royal family.”  
“Still on that?”  
“THEY TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT AWAY FROM ME! I’LL BE DAMNED IF I LET THEM LIVE!”  
“Ok! Geez, chill. You’re pregnant, you know.”  
“Demon babies don’t take long to gestate. In any case, I need to get you up to speed. The Earth Coven has a new witch.”  
“Really?” asked Amelia, “They replaced you after 40 years? They must be desperate.”  
“It’s Marie Leveau’s descendant.”  
Both sisters looked at her incredulously. “Not a laughing matter, is it?” she asked  
“How powerful is she?” asked Ameila  
“She’s still learning but you know what would happen if she were to get into contact with Marie.”  
“Can we kill her now?” asked Sevigny  
“No, she’s too obvious a target. Besides, the Twiight Moon is coming.”  
The sisters grinned evilly. “When that reaches the peak, “started Mirwena, “the fun really begins for the Butterfly Family.”  
“All their weaknesses.” Said Amelia, “Laid out on the table.”  
“Star Butterfly could be ours.” Said Sevigny, “We should start now.”  
“Patience,” started Mirwena, “We still have a few other tings to take care of. Besides, the new moon is coming. We can’t be out then.” 

Star bounded down the hall to Marco’s room. She was still a bit worried about her mother, but her father convinced her to go back to Earth. She saw an ad in the mailbox and bounded up the stairs, giving the mail to Raul first. “Marco!” she cried, bursting his room, “Marco!”  
Said teen gave her an annoyed look as he put a bookmark in his textbook. He knew he wasn’t going to get any study time done now. She bounced on his bed and he continued to stare at her. “What?” she asked  
“You came in my room during study time for something?” he asked  
“Study time? Oh Marco, you have three weeks before class starts!”  
“I have AP Science. I have to get a head-start. I can study at least the first three weeks.”  
Star raised a brow, sighed and pouted her lips. “I really wanted to go this grand opening.” She pouted  
“What place?”  
Star’s face lit up and she shoved a flyer in his face. Taking it, he adjusted his eyes, reading: “LUCKY STIKE! OPEN FOR BUSINESS! HALF OFF COUPLES NIGHT!”  
“Bowling?” asked Marco  
“Yes! I wanna try this…bowl-ing?”  
“Star, you’re going to destroy the place.”  
“No I wont. It looks fun, destroying these little men with a cannon ball.”  
“You don’t destroy a person with a cannon ball, you roll balls to knock over pins. Wait, let me show you on my laptop.”  
As he went online to show videos of what bowling was like, he heard a noise from Star’s room. It was a chiming noise that made Marco look at her strangely. “Oh.” She said, “I guess I’m getting a call.”  
She hopped away and Marco sighed, going to pick up the pillows she flopped on the floor. Fixing the sheets once more, he heard Star groan in frustration. “I told you I’m not gonna-!”  
“You gotta be fu…fudging kidding me.” He growled  
Stomping into Star’s room, he was looking at Tom, who had a flushed face. “Please don’t hang up!” he said, “I don’t know what to do!”  
“Tom…” started Star  
“I’m not trying to date you! I just…I don’t know what to do about Ro.”  
“What about my cousin?” asked Marco  
“She’s your cousin?” asked Tom  
“She didn’t mention me? You know what? Whatever, what do you want, Tom.”  
“Ro’s going nuts! She’s trying to study for her license but she’s burning herself out! Starship, you gotta help me!”  
Marco’s lips thinned in a line as Tom used his nickname for her. Star wasn’t fazed by his face in the least bit. “Since when do you care about anybody burning out?” asked Star, “You usually revel in the pain of others.”  
“Just because I’m a demon doesn’t make me a sadistic bastard! I don’t even know why I’m calling, this is…”  
Tom huffed and turned away, ruffling his hair. He didn’t want to get into a heated fit while his cuffs were off. He looked down at Usagi, who was sniffing around his feet. “Tom…” said Marco  
He could only look sideways at the mirror. “Look,” he started, “I just…I don’t know…feel worried. You don’t have to help me, I’ll just figure it out. Sorry I bothered you.”  
“Tom, wait!” started Star, “We’ll help you!”  
“She’s gotten into my tarberries!” yelled a voice, “She’ll be up for a week at this rate!”  
Tom turned away from the mirror, looking at Devi’s worried face. “I’m working on it!” he said  
He then gave them a desperate look as there were was screaming in the background. “She’s going nuts!” he said

Toffee looked at the screen that the demon bat was projecting to him from the Diaz household. He couldn’t spy on Salem because of a protection spell. However, he did see that Rochelle was in distress. He remembered how all witches newly added to a coven were supposed to be inducted and then licensed. She also noticed how close Star teetered on her self-doubt as she talked to Marco about her problems in the kingdom. Grinning evilly, there was some use he could get out of causing some type of harm to the teen. He had been away for too long, and he was tricked into believing that accursed wand was dead. Having three dark witches gave him an idea, but he had to make sure that he fulfilled his end of the contract. Still, there were ways of getting magic without those three knowing it…

Star looked over at Ro, who was nervously tapping her foot. She was forced out of the tower before she blew something up in the kitchen. Her face looked haggard from lack of sleep, but she was still full of energy. Marco told her that humans couldn’t stay awake for seven days without irreversible side effects. He was hoping that she would crash, but Devi said that the potion she used would have to burn off all the excess energy so she can sleep. Marco’s parents let him use the car, however, he couldn’t let Star drive, and he had to be back at 10. The two of them had to leave the house and Star had to use dimensional scissors to get Tom and a very reluctant Ro. He still didn’t tell them the full story of her witchly abilities, just that she was a witch. “Two v-variables…” muttered Ro, “mix tar…tarberry…gecko heart…”  
“Ewww…” whined Star, “How long before we get there?”  
“A little farther.” Answered Marco, “Just…ignore her if you can.”  
“Six sacrifices for the curse to work...No wait…how long did it take for Jeaune De Arc to survive? Ugh, too much dark study…”  
“Marco…”  
“Starship, she’s just having one of her moments.” Said Tom, “She can’t use magic because of the cuffs Devi put on her.”  
Marco could see his cousin twitching and he felt helpless. He had no idea how magic worked, except when Star used it. Ro mentioned that witch magic had to work in order or it would create chaos. When trying to ask Star about it, he got exasperated, and asking Glossaryk was out. The next turn on the right and Marco wanted to run away. Lucky Strike had balloons, spotlights, and the one damn thing he hated, mascots. There were pink bears and they were holding signs for the grand opening. Going to the parking lot, he felt a sense of dread, mainly because one of his friends was a mascot that he had to defend on a daily basis because he was annoying. Star jumped out the car quickly and grabbed Marco’s arm. “Where are you going?” asked Ro  
Her eyes looked glazed over as she got out the car. It was great she was wearing sneakers instead of her heeled ones because her balance was terrible. She leaned against the car, having an insane look on her face. “Come on Star.” She said, “I just need a lock of your hair to make a voodoo doll. I’ll make it quick and relatively painless.”  
“Wow…” said Marco, “Just…wow…”  
Tom pulled her by her arm, getting a glare from Marco. “You can’t grab her like that.” He said  
“Geez, sorry.” Said Tom, letting go  
Ro looked around for a bit and then noticed the mascots walking around with signs. “So…” she started, “What are we doing here?”  
“We’re going bowling.” Said Marco  
“What? Bowling? I’m not a fan of bowling. Why can’t we go skating?”  
“Because you’ll kill yourself. You’re barely walking right now.”  
“And taking me to a bowling alley was a great idea because?”  
“…she’s got me there.”  
“You need to get away from the magic for a while.” Said Tom, “You nearly blew up to the tower, not to mention Parker’s dealing with a hand wound after you sliced his hand off.”  
“She did what?!” squeaked Star  
“She was trying to experiment with reanimating limbs…”  
“And you let her do it to another human being?!” exclaimed Marco  
“Diaz…Parker’s a member of the undead…not a zombie. He was more annoyed than anything else.”  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” started Ro, “Parker’s a man…and a zombie? Did we just take a chapter from American Horror Story?”  
“Ok,” started Marco, “Maybe we should do bowling another day…”  
“Hey!” said Ro, “Does anybody else notice the world is spinning?”  
Tom caught her before she fell. Her eyes spun around, but they didn’t shut. “I’m hungry.” She said  
“This is a really bad idea.” Said Marco, “I can’t watch her all the time if she’s acting like this and teach Star how to bowl without having her destroy the place.”  
“Hey!” said Star  
“Diaz,” started Tom, “I’ll watch Ro while you teach Starship. Besides, I’m hungry too. What do humans eat, anyway?”  
“There’s a restaurant inside.” Answered Marco, “We can eat there.”

After helping Ro gain her balance back, the four of them entered the bowling alley, and the booing noises made Tom want to gag. It was reminiscent of a skulls smashing alley back home, though the music was less pop and more blood-curdling screams. Marco focused on the enclosed restaurant inside, finding a booth for the four of them to sit in. Ro looked around for a bit and yawned. “I think that potion is finally starting to wear off.” She said  
“Thank the Gods.” Said Tom, “You act like a psycho when you’re not sleeping.”  
“No I don’t.”  
“You scared Starship.”  
Marco glared at him at that nickname. Star merely shrugged at Tom, who gave her a questioning look. “Welcome to Lucky Strike Café!” said a familiar face, “Today’s special is the Potato Soup with-Marco?”  
“Jackie?” he asked  
She still looked the same, platinum blonde hair with a mint streak and green eyes. Her hair grew, though. She kept it in a high ponytail wherever she went, and she never took off the seashell necklace around her neck. She handed out the menus and smiled brightly. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.” She said, “I thought you hated sports events.”  
“He does.” Said Ro  
Jackie looked over at Ro and squinted eyes. “You look familiar…” she said  
“I’m Rochelle, Marco’s cousin.”  
“No…no way! Ro-ro from Marco’s birthday parties? Oh man! I remember you! You tried to ride his scooter and fell face first in the pavement!”  
“Still have the scar.”  
She raised her elbow to reveal a faint lightning shaped scar slightly above it. “You cried so hard when that happened!” said Jackie  
“Oh yeah, “ said Ro, “pain wasn’t that bad now that I think about it.”  
“Good, what can I get you guys?”  
“Iced blood.” Said Tom  
The four of them looked at him, grossed out. “We’ll take two pink lemonades.” Said Ro  
“I’ll take cherry coke.” Said Star  
“Just a sprite for me.” Said Marco  
Jackie merely nodded and walked away. Ro took this opportunity to lean on Tom for rest. He raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. Marco and Star looked at them suspiciously. She looked completely comfortable on his shoulder, sending text messages. “Uh…” started Marco  
“What?” asked Tom  
“A-are you two dating?”

His face turned red and he looked away. If the glamor charm wasn’t on him, he’d be looking more scarlet than pink. Ro just pursed her lips and kept texting. “Shouldn’t you guys be looking for what to eat?”  
The couple than began searching through menus for something to eat. “Do they have anything live that can eat to hear screams?” asked Tom  
“We’re not in the Underworld.” Answered Ro, “Besides, I think you weirded out Jackie enough with that Iced Blood comment.”  
“You said that there were people who drank blood.”  
“Those would be part of that strange cult I told that was running around the Internet. Besides, if you join them, I’m not speaking to you again.”  
“Why?”  
“Do I really need to tell you how squeamish I would be about being friends with a cannibal?”  
“I’m a demon.”  
“I’m a human, this planet is full of humans. How would you feel if I were to drink holy water around you?”  
“Can you do that?”  
“I’m human. Shockingly, witches can go to church. I can worship the J-man and believe in the Earth Goddess herself. Nothing in the bible states otherwise.”  
“Actually…” started Marco  
“Marky, he said no other Gods before me. I do believe that J-man is the God, and I don’t put the Earth Goddess before him. Why do you think I haven’t sacrificed Usagi?”  
“Who’s Usagi?” asked Star  
“Our rabbit.” God, and I don’t put the Earth Goddess before him. Why do you think I haven’t sacrificed Usagi?”  
“Who’s Usagi?” asked Star  
“Our rabbit.” Answerd Tom  
“Your rabbit.” Said Ro, “I’m not using that as my familiar.”

Jackie returned with the drinks and they began ordering, with Ro ordering for Tom to spare him any awkward moments. As soon as she left, they began talking about High School, Tom’s least-favorite subjet. “I can’t wait to show you our cafeteria!” said Star, excited, “We have so many exotic flavors!”  
“Any of them contain mystery meat?” asked Ro  
“I don’t know…I’ve been eating it for four years. I guess it’s ok.”  
“You’re from Mewni. Your constitution can take anything from Earth. I think I’ll stick to the food plan mother came up for me.”  
“Food plan?” asked Marco, “Aunt Ruth really came up with a food plan?”  
“It coincides with my life plan. It’s really huge chart that consists the next year of my life preparing for college. Every single detail, even the time I have to take for each side of my brain. When I move in, I’ll show it to you.”  
“I thought you hated the life plan.” Said Tom  
“Oh, I do. But, if I don’t get my life in order, I’ll probably fall apart. You know how annoyed I get if any of my spell textbooks are out of alphabetical order.”  
“Tell me about it…”  
“Wait,” started Star, “your mother seriously has a life plan for you?”  
“Oh yeah. I gotta get back to it after the exam. I won’t have time to date, just studying for AP classes. Then, there’s the college exams, SAT prep, I don’t think I’ll have time for prom or art classes either. Wait a sec.”

The three of them looked at her as she rearranged the napkins to be even and the salt and pepper shakers to be lined up correctly. She sighed and sat down. “That’s better.” She said, “It’s been bothering the shit out of me since I got here. That reminds me, I gotta alphabetize and date my ingredients when I get back.”  
Tom looked a bit crestfallen. “What about the marathon?” he asked  
“What marathon?” she asked  
“Monty Python? You said we would find out about the killer rabbit.”  
“Oh yeah, let me schedule that in my plan and then we’ll watch it. I think I can schedule that between Chemistry and Physics…by the way Marky, I think I’ll need your help with that. If mother catches me with a C, she’ll freak.”  
“A ‘C’?” asked Star, “Nothing’s wrong with a C. I mean, you’re not gonna use that stuff later in life, right?”  
“Joke all you want Star Butterfly, but not all of us can become royalty not have to worry about it. If I come home with mediocre grades, I’ll become a mediocre person.”  
“No you won’t. You’ll just be average.”  
“Star.” Said Marco

Tom scooted away from Ro as he saw flame in her eyes. He saw this once before, when Justine tried to tell her being normal and average was ok. “Don’t. Ever. Call. ME. AVERGE!” she yelled, “I’m the best of the best! I’m an AP genius, I’ve got to be or else mother will…”  
Hot tears blinked from her eyes and she got up from the booth, stomping away and out of the restaurant. Tom blinked and looked around, no explosion. Marco got up from the booth and ran after cousin. At the back of the restaurant was a very interested older man getting coffee from Jackie. He whispered something to her and her eyes became soulless. She took some package from the older man and added it to a cherry coke.


	7. Lucky Strike (Part 2)

Chapter 7: Lucky Strike (Part 2)  
A/N: Sorry I haven’t posted in a month! I’ve been working really hard on my original story and getting ready for the Pennsylvania Writers Conference that I had to put this story a bit on the backburner. So, since I have some time, I’m letting you all know that I’ll be posting between once a month and once every two months. Because of my full-time job and job constraints, I’ll try my best to keep you all updated.

Ro tapped her heel nervously as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She hated this, being reminded that after graduation that she’ll have to go back to being normal Rochelle Dubois, hiding her true self, especially to her mother. She couldn’t tell her about being a witch, how she inherited the witch gene from her father, how she was training to be a powerful witch, and she may never have a normal career. She knew that this was probably the thing that hurts the most. Or, maybe it was disappointing her mother, she wasn’t sure. Ruth Martinez-Dubois prided herself on pushing her daughter to be the best, with her life plan and her daughter’s independence. As a child, she remembered the life plan her mother made, pushing her, telling her that being the best was the only way from getting hurt. Sure, her father tried to turn away from such things, but she saw him less and less. Coming out as a witch was going to be the hardest thing she could ever tell her mother. “You ok?”  
Marco gave an awkward smirk as he hugged her. “I’m scared…” she said, “I’m not average.”  
“I know you’re not. Just…calm down. Star didn’t mean it.”  
Ro sniffed and pulled away. “I guess I’m just tired. After this exam, I’ll get some rest and calm down.”  
“We should get back. I don’t think Star wants to be left with her ex for too long.”  
“I thought they were over that whole ex thing.”  
“I don’t want to leave her alone. She’s Star, she’ll probably over-do something and cause a riot.”  
“You should give your girlfriend more credit than that.”  
Marco waited for a moment for something to happen, nothing did. Ro shook her head and walked back to the diner with Marco following. 

Going back inside, both were surprised to see Star sucking on a straw and she wore a completely different outfit. Her hair was cropped short in a bob, and she wore a pair of small shorts and a spaghetti-strapped top, Tom was staring at the ceiling, obviously blushing. Her legs were crossed across the booth. “What took you both so long?”  
“What the hell?” asked Ro  
“Don’t be such a baby. I decided to change my outfit.”  
“That’s very drastic.”  
Marco raised a brow as she kept her leg crossed. “What?”  
“Can I sit down?”  
“In a second.”  
As she sipped her juice, Ro sat down next to Tom. She nudged him in the side as he looked at her. “What?”  
“What the hell happened to Star?” she whispered   
“I dunno.” He whispered, “She just started changing her outfit.”  
“I’m bored.” Said Star, “Let’s go bowling, that’s if the big baby here isn’t too sleepy.”  
Ro gave a wry smile. “You’re on.”  
The rest of the meal was taken in awkward silence. As both girls glared at each other, Tom and Marco looked at each other in fear. Star chucked own the last of her drink slammed it on the table. “Done!” she yelled, “See you in the bowling alley!”  
She climbed over Marco, giving him a shot of her cleavage and Tom a full view of how shot her shorts really were. As she skipped away, Ro looked at Tom, who was in a state of suck and Marco, who looked like he was staring off into space. “Uh…guys?”  
The boys said nothing and she sighed. “No help here…”  
She smelled something sickly sweet and she eye’s Star’s cup sniffing it, she began to think about all the potion lessons she was taking. She had smelled it before, but it was hard to tell with the strawberry syrup mixed in. A crash outside alerted the three of them. 

Ludo was back, in all of his avian glory, with creatures that looked like strange black blobs with yellow eyes. Star gave an evil smile and tapped her wand against her cheek. “Ludo…” she started, “I haven’t seen you in a while. Did you get lost in whatever dimension that I threw you in this time?”  
“Laught it up, Star Butterfly. I’ll get that wand if it’s the last thing I do!”  
Marco looked at Ludo and almost felt disgusted. Sure, the avian was nothing to look at, but he looked worse, eyes were less of a human and soulless. Beak was broken, and the skullcap he wore looked like it was fused to his head. He was on the ground instead of being carried by some minion. His outfit…the same but tattered. Star paid no attention to this, just smirked and bit the side of her wand. “What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation? I thought you wanted my wand.”  
“I do…something’s different. Nevermind, attack!”  
The black figures attacked quickly, growling like feral wolves. It only took a second for Marco to realize that the creature had bitten him. Blood dripping from his arm, he used his balled up fist to punch it off. Crying out in pain as skin and muscle came off, he looked at Star, who was grinning evilly. She used her wand to blast back the onslaught of shadow wolves. She was going straight for Ludo. However, this avian monster was prepared. Before Marco could speak, he felt the wind being knocked out of him as a shadow wolf knocked him on his back. The creature’s breath smelled like garbage. After growling, it began sucking in breath, and he felt himself getting weaker. Something bright flashed before his eyes and the creature made a yelping noise. Turning his head to the side, he saw Tom prepare a fireball. He never knew how powerful the demon was until he watched him fight back. A shield of fire surrounded him as he ran straight for him. “Diaz! They’re Howling Banshee’s! Very overpowering to you humans!”  
He could feel a stinging pain as Tom made some of his wound close out. Closing his eyes, he looked away. “Sorry, I’m not a great healer.”  
Ro kicked a Howling Bansee in the face as she ran back inside the diner. Her energy was at an all-time low, and now she had creatures from another dimension to deal with. If they were from Tom’s dimension, she could find Earth items, but this wasn’t the case. Falling, she cut her left hand on broken glass and she hissed in pain. She could feel these creatures closing in. Grabbing a huge shard, she prepared herself as one lunged for her and she jugged out the shard, cutting her hand more, but killing the creature in the process. Another took this opportunity to bite down on her leg and she gave high-pitched scream. She kicked with her sneaker-heels so hard that the heel broke off in its glowing eye. The stinging pain of the bite became less harsh on her muscles as it died. Pushing the first creature off her chest, she dislodged the other from her leg. Getting up, she immediately regretted it as she felt something snap, her left ankle. She had slipped on glass again and put too much weight on an already injured leg. She could hear the Howling Banshees sensing weakened prey, but then there was the sound of cries of pain. “Rochelle!”   
Marco was cradling his arm as Tom went to her aid. She could see black dots, but shook them off. He helped her up and she stood on one leg. “This hurts so bad…” she said  
Both teen boys looked down at her leg, small shards of glass lodged into deep teeth marks. The demon created a flame shield to keep the three of them protected from the Howling Banshees. “I don’t know how long that will hold.”  
“Star better get rid of Ludo fast.” Said Marco, “We both need medical attention.”  
“I think that a doctor is the least of our worries, safety teen.” Said Ro  
“Ro?”  
“I just noticed Star’s wand as she was talking to Ludo. That thing looks like it’s…mutating or something.”

Star felt a surge of energy rush through her as she felt her wings expand. Instead of Star’s beautiful fae-like wings, there were two long butterfly wings, that curved and pointed. Her wand’s wings looking similar to hers, the same star in the middle, except blackened and green. The entire wand turned into a staff. She no longer had the princess crown, or the heart on the handle. Instead, it was a blackened, withered rose that blossomed the star, and the handle was thorny. Ludo used his own wand to summon the Howling Banshees back to him. “You think you’re clever using that wand, don’t you? I’m not going back to the darkness again!”  
The plethora of creatures turned into a large, hulking creature. Star raised a brow and looked down at the avian monster. “Didn’t you do something like this before?”  
Ludo screamed and used his wand, which Star absorbed with her own wand. Feeling something spike in her brain, she gave a devious smile. “You’re using baby magic. How cute! Does the little monster think he has a chance? All these years of fighting and your master plan is to use baby magic on me?”  
Star felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and she looked at the blood. “You little bastard…”  
Ludo commanded the creature to attack and she created a purple portal. Ro looked in shock as Tom pulled down his shield. “Oh no…” she said  
“What?” asked Marco  
“Dark magic! She’s going to absorb that power! I saw it happen in class once, wasn’t pretty!”  
“I’m calling your sisters.” Said Tom  
“No, they won’t get to us in time!”  
Star’s hair and skin began turning a stark white color. The creature began getting smaller, and strange markings began showing up on the bleach white skin. Ro began thinking quickly. She began cackling as her normal blue eyes began turning purple. Ludo began backing up in fear as Star floating closer to her, still sucking up energy. “Did you think that a piece of shit like you could stop the all-powerful princess of Mewni?!”  
Ro thrust her cuffs in Tom’s face. “You gotta get these off me!” she said  
“Ro, you-”  
“I’m somewhat awake enough! I have to siphon off some of that dark magic or Star’s going to go down the same road Mirwena did! She’s going to kill Ludo!”  
“What?!” said Marco, “Star would never do that!”  
“I don’t have time to explain! Tom, take these cuffs off me or your Starship’s gonna become one evil tyrant of Mewni!”  
“That’s too much energy! You’ll die!”  
“What other choice do we have?”  
“You’re a neutral magic witch, can’t you purify it or something?”  
Ro turned to Marco. “With you and Marco’s help I can…maybe…”  
Ludo screamed in pain as some of the magic was struck back at him. “What do you need us to do?” asked Marco  
“Ok…I’ve only read this spell once in Devi’s journal. Tom, I’ll need to take some of your energy to absorb once you take the magic cuffs off. Marco, I need you to absorb some of this energy. I’m probably going to pass out, and maybe Marco too. I’m not going to lie, Cuz, it’s gonna hurt like shit. Tom, you know how to use pocket space, right?”  
“Demonology 101.”   
“Good, if I can get Star to drop the wand because I’m draining her, I’ll need you to create a pocket space for her, this way, you can’t touch it and Star can get it back once she’s back to normal.”  
“I can do that.”  
“One last thing, if you can create a shield, that would be great because once Star notices I’m absorbing her energy, I think she’s going to be pissed.”  
Tom nervously touched the golden cuffs. “I know.” Said Ro, “We’ll make it out. Humans are more resilient than you think we are.”  
Tom licked his lips and took the latch off the cuffs. Letting them fall to the floor, Ro nodded and began saying something in a different language. Symbols in a bright blue color in a circle appeared under her. Her eyes became the same bright blue color. She reached for Marco’s hand, who readily took it. His eyes became the same bright blue color, and she opened her palm to Tom. He could feel the bright pink energy being sapped from his body.

Ludo looked at Star as she put her manicured black nails to his throat. “You just gave me the power of a hell dimension…” she hissed  
“Ok…” he gasped, “I give up…send me away…”  
“No. I was thinking more of sending you to the Underworld, permanently…”  
Star grinned evilly as she trained her wand on him. Before she could land a killing blow, she screamed in pain as she felt her energy being drained. Looking back, she could see purple energy from her body being drained to being trained to bright blue. “How dare you…” she growled  
Sucking in air, she began screaming in a high-pitched tone. Tom clutched his ears as his shield cracked. Ro squinted an eye and the looked at Marco. As she absorbed energy, she then squeezed Marco’s hand as she siphoned energy to him. He cried out in pain. Star then stopped screaming and used her wand to crate a rain of ice to fall down on them. “Starship!” yelled Tom, “Stop this!”  
“Never! I won’t go back to the cute Star Butterfly that has to follow orders! To live as the rigid Princess of Mewni!”  
Tom walked out of the shield, still being siphoned by Ro. “Please Starship, I know this isn’t you. This isn’t the Starship I fell in love with.”  
Star growled and clutched the wand. “Do you really love me? Or did you love the rebellious side of me? You never really did get to know the real me, did you?”  
“I…”  
“No, you didn’t. This is who I am now! Let my voice be the last thing you hear.”  
She sucked in more air to scream and Ro gave a quick look at the staff. Taking some of the energy she absorbed, she knocked the wand out of Star’s hand. “Tom!”   
He quickly spoke in Demonic and created a pocket space to quickly absorb the wand. “No!”   
Her eyes began closing and she dropped to the ground. Tom quickly caught her before she reached the ground. As he floated there, he looked back at Ro, who screamed from the pain and quickly passed out, with Marco catching her. Floating down the ground, Marco’s eyes were heavy. The demon lowered the shield “Did we…stop her…?”  
“Yeah Diaz, we did.”  
Marco nodded and passed out on the ground. 

Toffee sat in his office, drumming his fingers. Getting the little avian monster to agree to attacking Star Butterfly was easy, but he knew the little undead idiot was eager to chase after the same obsession when he was alive. Star never knew what she did that day, when she blew him up, and sent Ludo away. When he found his soul and put his corpse back together, all he could talk about was that damn wand. Mirwena, of course, was suspicious. Hiding his soul was no small feat from a dark witch, but he managed. As the soul ball explained everything, he paced around the room. “That wasn’t like her at all.” Said Ludo, “The blonde twit usually holds back. I’ve never seen such raw power being absorbed.”  
“I told you to not underestimate her.”  
“I did everything you asked. Can I get my reward now?”  
“Yes…your reward.”  
Toffee pulled outa demonic crystal and absorbed the soul. Smirking at the avian monster’s confusion, he put the crystal in his desk. “Moron.” He said, flatly, “A soul should be able to see through a hollow husk. Oh well, I’ll use you for something later.”  
Outside to the study, Mirwena smirked and walked away, rubbing her stomach. Thinking back to her own childhood, she thought : ‘I just need to give her the right push and she’ll be like me…oh mother, you’ll get your revenge soon enough!’

Star gave another banshee-like scream as she tried to get out of her restraints. After finding out that Star had absorbed dark magic, she nearly broke out in hysterics. If it weren’t for River and Justine, she would’ve lost her mind. “I don’t understand. She understands that absorbing dark magic is dangerous!”  
“Somethin’s wrong, darlin’. Rochelle said she drank something, but she’s not sure what.”  
Moon sighed and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “I often wonder if I’m doing the right thing..”  
“Only you know. I only do what is asked of me under my service.”  
“If only I stopped her back then…”


	8. Unravel

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'm halfway through my original draft and took a break to write this. Thank you for supporting this story!

Star cried out in pain as dark magic was siphoned from her body. After binding Star with seals in her room, Devi and Justine were working hard to siphon the magic from Star's body. Devi was working twice as hard because it was her spell. She was upset at Ro for using her spell without knowing the consequences. Marco recovered in one of the guest rooms, nerves on fire from raw energy. Justine gave him a sedative to stay sleeping. His parents were not going to be happy when they find out what happened to him, or what he's become. Ro was completely worn out from purifying magical energy. Despite the fact that she was training and getting better, she still wasn't a master witch. In fact, she wasn't even sure how she was going to pull off her exam.

She currently sat on a very soft bed, trying to think of any way to get out of her predicament. She used magic outside of school hours, possibly killed Marco, and Star was dealing with a split-personality problem. Despite her good intentions, Devi was upset with her using a high-level spell before her exam. Though, she did comment that she had to use quick thinking to deal with an out-of-control princess on a rampage that was fueled by some type of potion. Tom didn't say much as she was getting yelled at, he was busy trying to contain Star. That motion, the way he looked at her, made her heart sink in her stomach. She knew that Tom and Star used to be in a relationship. It shouldn't bother her, considering the two of them have never been on a date, and Tom never said anything. Still, why did it hurt so much?

A soft knock made her stir out of her thoughts as she was greeted with a very tired Marco. He sat down on the bed and leaned on her shoulder. Both of them said nothing for a moment. Her leg ached, and she longed to touch it, but she couldn't take the burning pain. "I have no idea what I'm going to tell mom." said Marco

"At least she'll believe you. I still have to hide everything from her, and I have no idea when she's coming back."

"I wish my body didn't hurt so much."  
"I'm sorry."  
"Don't be. I'll do anything to save Star's life."  
"I know. So will Tom."  
"What?"

Ro leaned back in bed and covered her face with the pillow, groaning. "I hate being a teenager." said a muffled voice

"What was that you said about Tom?"  
"Please don't make me repeat that."

Marco looked over at Ro's cell phone, the picture reflected on her lock screen said it all. Tom didn't look too happy in it, snow all over his face. He sighed and put it down. He had known that feeling before, remembering how much he pined for Jackie, just to even be noticed by her. Poking her in the side, she groaned and turned over. "Stop it."

"Hey, you know that Star is dating me, right?"

"No shit."

"So, what makes you think that he has a shot with my Star?"

"I never said he had a shot, but he doesn't look at me like he does Star."

"So?"  
"So, how do you compete with that? I mean, they used to be in a relationship."  
"Yeah, used to be. Star doesn't want to date him, she barely tolerates him as it is. If it weren't for you, I'd doubt she would bother with him at all."  
"Star hates him?"

"Not hate but...it's just kind of awkward, considering that's her ex."

"I wouldn't know how that feels, I've never been in a relationship."  
"Neither have I, but Star doesn't act as cheery as she usually does."  
"She's also 17. We're in that awkward stage where we may be adults, but we have childish feelings."  
"...how? Just...how?"  
"Mom's an anthropologist with a doctorate in psychiatry and a minor in neurology. You have no idea how far my mind has been warped since Dad left. In any case, it sucks that education-wise, I understand change, but I don't emotionally comprehend it."

"Should I ask what to do?"

"I'm not a therapist. I said understand textbook wise."

A loud scream made Marco flinch. Hearing that noise, that Star was in pain, was killing him. Ro felt energy in the room and she took the pillow off her face. Marco had a blue aura around his body. "Hey...um...Marky?" she asked

He stared at her with pain in his glowing blue eyes...wait, blue? Breathing deeply, Ro sat up and away from him. "I hate this searing pain in my body." he said, "What happened to me?"

"I don't know. I just...I think something happened with your soul."

"What? What did you do?!"  
Ro felt her heart clench and she could see blue flames coming from his eyes. He was getting agitated. She gasped to breathe as she felt her body slide across the bed. "Marky...I can't..."  
She felt her heart clench more as she was raised from the bed. She couldn't fight back, not without energy. " . ?"

"I...your soul...you're a..."

Marco felt his body getting dozy as he realized what he was doing. Everything went black as the room spun.

Mirwena smirked as she put down her spiritual globe. Everything was falling into place without her really doing anything. Sevigny put down a shining purple vial, smiling evilly. "What is that thing?"

"My finest work. The shadow illusions I've made is going to rock the core of the royal family."

"Good. Well, I'm not sure how much more rocking you need to do when Star Butterfly is losing her mind from all the dark energy she absorbed. She just needs a little...push now."

"Sounds familiar..."

"The dark energy always surrounded me. She's still a child, this will be fun."

"Indeed, sister. Speaking of which, where is Amelia?"

"I haven't seen her all day. We should summon her. The power of three can over the power of two this time."

Star looked around in the darkness. She felt cold, and her breath was in front of her face. At her feet, a lighted path started. Following it, she wished she knew where she was. As splashing noise made her freeze, and then she found herself sinking. Gasping for air, she realized she was breathing in dark water. Three shining beacons glowed brightly in the distance, making her swim towards them. As it got bigger, she wished she didn't. There she stood, above the Diaz Family, fleeing happily as her staff pierced a bloated corpse of Raul Diaz. The home was completely destroyed and she didn't look like herself. Looking older, her hearts were gone for her cheeks, skin porcelain white, hair flowing long and black. The wand she used looked like a staff, shaped like a crescent moon with bat wings out the sides. She laughed coldly as she poked at it. "Just like the rest of your pathetic race." she said, "I'll make sure that none of you survive the war."

Star screamed in the water and began to swim away, other visions were there, her conquering planets, using her magic to kill innocent people. One vision, one that had her decapitate Marco in a blaze of glory made her scream in pain. "It only takes one sip of dark energy, my dear."

The darker version of herself was hugging her. "Welcome to dark magic."

Star woke up in a sheen of her on sweat, looking around the room. Devi sat in a corner, nodding away. She wasn't sure if the witch heard her cries, but everything seemed so real. Sitting in her sweat, she moved to get up but remembered that she was still bound by the anti-magic cuffs tied to the floor. She wasn't sure what she did, but she had glimpses of her figure, screaming and biting at her other. Her throat hurt, probably raw from screaming. Her clammy hands clamped on the cuffs and wanted them to come off, but it was magically locked. Pulling a bit, she realized that she was tied down, she couldn't go anywhere, which meant that she would have to get used to the pool of sweat in the bed. The jingling noise awakened Devi. She looked at her with hesitance, wondering what the girl was going to do. Coughing a bit, she tapped her throat. "Feeling any better?" she asked

Star strained to use her voice, but it hurt. She merely nodded. "I apologize for the chains. You probably don't remember the last 48 hours, but you were absorbing dark magic from a spell that I'm sure you even could get a hold of. In any case, we've been extracting dark magic from your body, hoping that there wouldn't be any long-lasting damage."

Star cocked her head curiously. "You're probably thirst. I would summon us some water, but there are seals that block magic for your safety. Excuse me while I get a glass of water for you."

The princess leaned back as positioned herself to get as comfortable as she could with sweat. 'I never thought she would leave...'

"Who..." she whispered

'Don't tell me you've forgotten me, little Star.'

She said nothing, just nodding her head, 'no'. 'I'm you...well, the you that was inside of your subconscious mind. I'm what you really want to do, and what you were forced to suppress. The dark magic made me come out. You call me another voice in your head. Now, considering these cuffs, I think we should get them off. You're a princess, why should they lock us up like an animal?'

Star was brought out of her thoughts when Devi returned with a glass of water. "We only have two treatments left before all the dark magic is out of your body. For now, you should rest."

As Star drank her water, she began to think about the last part that the voice in her head said. Why was she being locked away like an animal? Where was her mother? 'You should take that water and splash it in her face. Tell her that she's below you.'

'I can't do that.'

'Sure you can. You are royalty.'

She could feel her spirit conflicting with this evil version of herself. Then, she felt herself getting tired. 'Just sleep for a bit. I'll handle this.'

"Are you alright, princess?"

"Let me out..."

"Princess, we can't-"

"Don't you hear me?! I'm a princess! I demand to be let go!"

"Princess Star, you have to-"

The glass of water crashed against the wall and she stabbed the shards in her stomach. Devi took a few steps back, gasping in pain. "I'm not that weakling version of Star. I am a princess...I will kill you if you don't let me out."


	9. Control

A/N: I would like to give a thank you to Ms_Valeria_Valdez for voting for my story!

Devi gasped for air as she felt the pain in her stomach. Star looked at her with a rage she had never seen the gentle princess show before. As the glass embedded in her stomach, she gasped for air. "I am royalty!" she screamed, "You will treat me as such!"

The pain felt too great to scream, to cry out, or any action to get the shards out. She took a few steps back before sliding down to the floor. Star cried out as she pulled the chains. The door slammed open and both Tom and Justine looked in horror as Devi was trying to claw at the glass embedded in her stomach. "I demand that you release me right now!" yelled Star

Tom looked in shock as Justine helped her girlfriend to her feet. She gasped at the pain, unable to talk. Star glared at him with a hint of malice, something he had never seen her do before. "Release me, right now!"

"I don't think that would be a good idea, darlin'." said Justine, "You just speared my girlfriend."

"I'll do the same thing to you if you don't let me go! Tom, get me out!"

Tom said nothing but stared at her. Her face looked twisted, inhuman, like she was possessed. The seals around the room began to crack. Her skin was a ghastly white and her eyes became completely black. "If you love me, you'll do anything for me!"

Tom felt his throat got dry as he stepped away from her. Her voice made a shrill noise and the seals broke. She stood before them, nails extended to points, ready to strike. Smiling sweetly, she slammed Tom against he wall and then floated out of the room. Her feet were inches off the ground as she began floating things around the room. "Mother?" she asked, "Where are you?"

"Starlight?" asked River

He had never seen his daughter in such a state, and he was sure if this even was his daughter right now. The guards got in position but she laughed. "You dare attack your princess?"

"Please Starlight, calm down."

"Move old man, or I will move you."

River glared at his daughter, she had never spoken to him this way. Something about her entire demeanor was off. Star let out shrill noise again and River found himself on his knees with his guards. Star floated over to him. "I will become the greatest ruler in all of-"

Star felt something pull on her windpipe. She turned to stare at her mother, who looked different. Her hair wasn't tied up, it was down, and she wore a simple gown that wasn't adorned with lace. Something was different about her. Her hands glowed large pink color as she created pink chains to pull her daughter to the ground. Tom rubbed his head as he looked at the sight. Of all the times he had seen the queen, he had never once seen her in this state. Her hair flowed through what could be considered invisible wind and she used chants in a demanding way. Star tried to pull, but her own magic flowing from her fingers seem to dissipate. 

Moon stood over the child and a silver rope came out of her hand. It made the chains disappear and it entangled Star's body. "This is not your true self. Come out of my daughter and begone with you."

Star's face writhed with pain and sweat as she turned her head back and forth. Back contorting into an arch, she took in a deep breath and began laughing, looking up at Moon. "You stupid Queen! I may give up this form for now but I'll never be gone! Star will learn the truth!"

Her body finally stopped moving and a sliver of black saliva fell out of Star's mouth. Moon ran quickly to her daughter, examining her face with her own blue eyes. Tom snapped out of staring as Justine asked for help. The bleeding looked smaller, but Devi still looked in pain. "I've never seen the Queen like that." 

"Of course you haven't." said Devi, "She hasn't used magic like that in years. The sealing spell didn't work, but Moon know's what she's doing with those ropes. What you're seeing, is a real purifying spell." 

"What about what Ro did?"

"She did a powerful spell, but not powerful enough. Don't get me wrong, what she did was good, but she hasn't learned to master her abilities yet."

Devi winced in pain again as she began walking with both Tom and Justene propping her up. "I need to talk to her."

"I was going to tell you earlier." said Justene, "Her throat's still healing after Marco tried to strangle her heart."

"What?!" roared Tom

"Will you calm down? Marco didn't know what he was doin'. He's unconcious at the moment."

"Terrific..." said Devi, "Any other news I need to know?"

"Rochelle's trial is in three days and Rochelle went home."

"She what?! Why would you let her go?"

"Her mother is coming home tomorrow, she has to sort things out with her, and she's not exactly needed around here. She needs time to sort things out. "

"I should go see her." Said Tom

"Good idea." said Devi, "You're not needed around the castle at the moment, and she needs someone with magic to talk to her."

"I use neutral and dark magic."

"Doesn't matter. I'd never thought I'd say this, but Justene is right. I need you to be her emotional support right now."

Toffee petted his hell horse with care. The time was right. His men were preparing for war, creating weapons, wrangling in their nastiest hell creatures. A young imp bowed to him and walked away as it began brushing the demon steed. "My Lord," started a Troll

He looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "The Queen wishes to speak with you, immediately."

Toffee smirked evilly. "Of course she does."

As he walked, people seemed to move out of his way. Looking around, he had never seen such a glorious sight. Hell horses being armored with silver, weapons sharpened and used on slaves, and a dragon being brought down to its knees. The hallways were mostly empty, considering everybody seemed to be mounting up for war. As he entered the study, he was staring at a very pissed off witch, who was rubbing her swollen stomach. When he shut the door, he could feel the fury in the room. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked

"Starting a war, what else?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of a violation is that invade another realm?"

"Not without cause. I've obtained some footage that Tom is on Mewni. Harboring a fugitive is against inter-dimensional law. You said so yourself, Tom is a traitor to the crown. Starting a war over harboring a fugitive is common practice."

"I am close to bringing down the royal family and you want to start a war now?"

"Yes. It makes perfect sense. While they're trying to keep Star under control, I attack, forcing an implosion."

"And what makes you think that our army is capable of taking them down."

"Not just our army, but it's citizens as well."

"Citizens."

"Many of the Mewnians hate the royal family. All we need is the right push, and we'll have them storm the castle with the army attacking from the other side."

"And with the entire Butterfly Royal Family gone, my child can rise to the throne."

"If that is what you wish. I only wish to exact revenge on the one who took everything away from me. Now, who are we going to use to get the poor riled up?"

"Leave that to me."


	10. Reluctant Heroes (Part 1)

A/N: Sorry I've been taking so long to update. I wanted to see some episodes of Season 2 before I decided to write more. Because this new arc involves Ludo having half of the wand and Star has the ability to use her magic without the wand, it made me open some new doors. In any case, enjoy this chapter.

Ro stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do about her current situation, and she wasn't sure if she cared. After everything she went through with Tom, she was really upset to find out that he still loved Star. Of course, it wasn't intentional that she found out, but she did hear him say he loved Star to the king. Something inside her cracked, and she decided to run away from the situation. Her phone buzzed again and she could see Marco's picture on it. She put her phone on 'Do Not Disturb', and began working on packing her things. With no magic, it took an incredible amount of time to work on. Luckily, her leg was healing nicely from the potion Justine gave her, but she still the pain from her nerve ending in her leg healing. As she taped up her mother's room, coordinating the way her mother liked it by size, color, and clothing type, she went into the living room. Her stomach grumbled as she looking over at the kitchen. The house was relatively empty, in fact, everything looked like it was a museum. Her heart clenched as she remembered just how alone she was at home. On the corkboard in the kitchen was her life plan, something her mother came up with in order to make sure she would become a 'functional adult'. Every moment was planned out for her, a huge chart that planned the entire the year of her life. The older she got, the more isolated she got from other children her age. She could feel her eyes getting warm, but she took a deep breath, suppressing any feeling of disappointment. potion Justine gave her, but she still the pain from her nerve ending in her leg healing. As she taped up her mother's room, coordinating the way her mother liked it by size, color, and clothing type, she went into the living room. Her stomach grumbled as she looking over at the kitchen. The house was relatively empty, in fact, everything looked like it was a museum. Her heart clenched as she remembered just how alone she was at home. On the corkboard in the kitchen was her life plan, something her mother came up with in order to make sure she would become a 'functional adult'. Every moment was planned out for her, a huge chart that planned the entire the year of her life. The older she got, the more isolated she got from other children her age. She could feel her eyes getting warm, but she took a deep breath, suppressing any feeling of disappointment.

The refrigerator was empty, just a bottled water, and she looked in the cupboards to find everything bare. She just remembered that she tossed everything out when she came back to New Orleans with Tom. The grumbling feeling came back and she pulled her phone out of her pocket. As soon as she made herself available, she found herself looking at the many text messages from Marco's phone that sounded like he and Tom were worried about her. Stomach grumbling again, she groaned and grabbed the keys from the key rack.

* * *

 

Tom paced back and forth. He used Marco's phone to call Rochelle, but only got voicemail. Marco, who got cleared to go home, only wanted to have a bit of peace and quiet before the next disaster arose when a flaming haired demon decided to stomp around his room. "why can't you go back to the tower?" he bemoaned

"I'm going back soon but, I can't contact Rochelle."

"Dude, she wants to be left alone. Can't you take a hint? This is just as bad as when we were teenagers."  
"Diaz,  _you_ are a teenager. Starship and I are-"

"Quit calling my girlfriend that!"  
"Why?"  
"It's weird. How would you feel if I called Rochelle 'pumpkin' or something?"  
"First, pumpkin? Seriously? Second, she would punch you in the face."  
"Ok, point taken, but do you know how weird that sounds for me."  
"Not really. You forget I'm a demon. Considering I'm the future king of the second kingdom  _and_  what I specialize in, it's not weird."

"What did Star see in you?"  
"Do you really want to know?"

Marco's eyes turned a bright blue and Tom found himself bound with magical chains. Marco glared at him with gritted teeth and he knew what kind of magic he was using. Though, he knew Marco didn't know that he was trying to kill him. "Look Diaz, sorry." He said, "I don't want Star and if it means that much to you, I'll stop just, calm down."  
Maro blinked a few times, looking bewildered. Tom took a few steps back from him. "Um...you ok, Diaz?"  
"What the...ok, I guess I did something nuts?"

"Close. Um, I think you need to enroll in a magic academy before something bad happens."

Marco's phone buzzed and Tom grabbed for it quickly. He tapped the phone a few times. "How do you work this thing?"

"Give me that." growled Marco

He typed in his password and put the phone on speaker. "Ro?"

 _"Marco..."_ sobbed Rochelle's voice

"Ro? What's wrong?"

_"She's here. I don't know what...mirror...not okay!"_

The phone call cut off and the teens looked at each other. Tom's power began to glow and everything began to float around. "I can't believe this!" he growled, "She won't talk to me but she'll talk to you?!"

"Tom, relax!" yelled Marco, "You forgot that you're the one who made her upset! And you don't even have a cell phone!"

Tom took a deep breath and everything floated down to normal. Marco folded his arms. "You really need to work on your anger management skills."

"Diaz, not right now! Where does Ro live?"  
"Um..."  
"What?"  
"She never really told me."  
"What?! Are you guys cousins?!"  
"We don't tell where we live because of our mothers. It's a long story. Wait, she has twitter."  
"What does social media have to do with anything?"  
"Anybody who posts also posts their location. Since she stays home a lot, knowing her, she probably tweets a lot. It shouldn't be hard to find her."

* * *

 

Mirwena growled loudly as she slammed open Amelia's room. She saw her coven sister cowering over, clutching her side. Her hair had turned silver since the last time she saw her. Mirwena didn't care. The baby was kicking, her feet were swollen, and her plan almost failed. "Where have you been?" she growled

"My body." groaned Amelia, "I need a new one."

"We have plenty of demons."

"No. Human. I don't want that."  
"Get a body. We needed you. We almost got Star Butterfly under our control and now we only have a slither of darkness left in her!"  
"Don't worry sister, I have the perfect body in mind."  
Mirwena said nothing but left the room. Amelia dropped her smirk and walked to a large silver mirror. "Bitch..." she growled, "your obsession with Mewni is going to get us killed. No matter, I've got the best body and mind, and then I'll be the leader of this coven."

Amelia smiled at the scared face in the mirror. Picking up a silver mirror shard piece, she flicked it at the person's eye and she screamed in pain. Torturing this girl was fun, making her unable to do anything about the murders she was going to commit was going to be even better. She loved making her victims insane.

* * *

 

Ro got up slowly and stumbled to the bathroom mirror. She slammed her cell phone down as she cried out in pain and looked at herself in the mirror. Lowering her hand, her left eye glowed, and blood dripped from it. Wiping the blood from her cheek, she began to chuckle and then laugh loudly before passing out.


End file.
